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i£lLA(DI£    BWAMF. 


WAYERLEY     NOYELS. 


HOUSEHOLD     EDITION. 

THE    BLACK    DAVARF. 

A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE. 

I. 


BOSTON: 
TICKNOR     AND     FIELDS, 

M  DCCC  LVII. 


RIVERSIDE,    Cambridge: 

STEREOTYPED      AND      PRINTED     BY 
H.    0.    HOUGHTON   AND    COMPANY. 


TALES    OF    MY    LANDLORD, 

COLLECTED   AND   ARRANGED 

BY  JEDEDIAH  CLEISHBOTHAM, 

SCHOOLMASTER  AND   PARISH   CLERK  OF   GANDERCLEUGH. 
FIRST   SERIES. 

THE     BLACK     DWARF. 
A    LEGEND     OF     MONTROSE. 


Hear,  Land  o'  Cakes  and  brither  Scots, 
Frae  Maidenkirk  to  Johnny  Groats', 
If  there's  a  hole  in  a'  your  coats, 

I  rede  ye  tent  it ; 
A  chiel's  amang  you  takin"  notes, 

An'  faith  he'  11  prent  it ! 
Burns. 


Ahora  Men,  dixo  il  Ckra :  tratdme,  senor  liuesped,  aquesos  libros,  que 
los  quiero  ver.  Que  vie  place,  respondio  el;  y  entrando  en  su  apoaento, 
said  del  una  maletilla  vieja  cerrada  con  una  cadenilla,  y  abriendola,  halU 
en  ella  tres  libros  grandes  y  unos  papeles  de  muy  buena  letra  escritos  de 
mano.— Don  Quixote,  Parte  I.  Capitulo  32. 

It  is  mighty  well,  said  the  priest:  pray,  landlord,  bring  me  those 
books,  for  I  have  a  mind  to  see  them.  With  all  my  heart,  answered 
the  host ;  and  going  to  his  chamber,  he  brought  out  a  little  old  cloke- 
bag,  with  a  padlock  and  chain  to  it,  and  opening  it,  he  took  out  three 
large  volumes,  and  some  manuscript  papers  written  in  a  fine  char- 
acter.—Jarvis's  Translation. 


THE     BLACK    DWARF. 


INTRODUCTION (1829.) 

The  ideal  being  who  is  here  presented  as  residing  in 
solitude,  and  haunted  by  a  consciousness  of  his  own 
deformity,  and  a  suspicion  of  his  being  generally  subjected 
to  the  scorn  of  his  fellow-men,  is  not  altogether  imaginary. 
An  individual  existed  many  years  since,  under  the  author's 
observation,  which  suggested  such  a  character.  This  poor 
unfortunate  man's  name  was  David  Ritchie,  a  native  of 
Tweeddale,  He  was  the  son  of  a  labourer  in  the  slate- 
quarries  of  Stobbo,  and  must  have  been  born  in  the  mis- 
shapen form  which  he  exhibited,  though  he  sometimes 
imputed  it  to  ill-usage  when  in  infancy.  He  was  bred  a 
brush-maker  at  Edinburgh,  and  had  wandered  to  several 
places,  working  at  his  trade,  from  all  which  he  was  chased 
by  the  disagreeable  attention  which  his  hideous  singularity 
of  form  and  face  attracted  wherever  he  came.  The  author 
understood  him  to  say  he  had  even  been  in  Dublin. 

Tired  at  length  of  being  the  object  of  shouts,  laughter, 
and  derision,  David  Ritchie  resolved,  like  a  deer  hunted 
from  the  herd,  to  retreat  to  some  wilderness,  where  he 
might  have  the  least  possible  communication  with  the 
world  which  scoffed  at  him.  He  settled  himself,  with  this 
view,  upon  a  patch  of  wild  moorland  at  the  bottom  of  a 


b  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

bank  on  the  farm  of  "Woodhouse,  in  the  sequestered  vale 
of  the  small  river  Manor,  in  Peebleshire.  The  few 
people  who  had  occasion  to  pass  that  way  were  much 
surprised,  and  some  superstitious  persons  a  little  alarmed, 
to  see  so  strange  a  figure  as  Bow'd  Davie  (^.  e.,  Crooked 
David)  employed  in  a  task,  for  which  he  seemed  so  totally 
unfit,  as  that  of  erecting  a  house.  The  cottage  which  he 
built  was  extremely  small,  but  the  walls,  as  well  as  those 
of  a  little  garden  that  surrounded  it,  were  constructed 
with  an  ambitious  degree  of  solidity,  being  composed  of 
layers  of  large  stones  and  turf;  and  some  of  the  corner 
stones  were  so  weighty,  as  to  puzzle  the  spectators  how 
such  a  person  as  the  architect  could  possibly  have  raised 
them.  In  fact,  David  received  from  passengers,  or  those 
who  came  attracted  by  curiosity,  a  good  deal  of  assist- 
ance ;  and  as  no  one  knew  how  much  aid  had  been  given 
by  others,  the  wonder  of  each  individual  remained  undi- 
minished. 

The  proprietor  of  the  ground,  the  late  Sir  James 
Naesmith,  Baronet,  chanced  to  pass  this  singular  dwelling, 
which,  having  been  placed  there  without  right  or  leave 
asked  or  given,  formed  an  exact  parallel  with  Falstaff 's 
simile  of  a  "  fair  house  built  on  another's  ground ; "  so 
that  poor  David  might  have  lost  his  edifice  by  mistaking 
the  property  where  he  had  erected  it.  Of  course,  the 
proprietor  entertained  no  idea  of  exacting  such  a  forfeit- 
ure, but  readily  sanctioned  the  harmless  encroachment. 

The  pei'sonal  description  of  Elshender  of  Mucklestane- 
Moor  has  been  generally  allowed  to  be  a  tolerably  exact 
and  unexaggerated  portrait  of  David  of  Manor  Water. 
He  was  not  quite  three  feet  and  a  half  high,  since  he 
could  stand  upright  in  the  door  of  his  mansion,  which  was 
just  that  height.     The  following  particulars  concerning 


INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    BLACK    DWARF.  7 

his  figure  and  temper  occur  in  the  Scots  Magazine  for 
1817,  and  are  now  understood  to  have  been  communicated 
by  the  ingenious  Mr.  Robert  Chambers  of  Edinburgh, 
who  has  recorded  with  much  spirit  the  traditions  of  the 
Good  Town,  and,  in  other  publications,  largely  and  agree- 
ably added  to  the  stock  of  our  popular  antiquities.  He 
is  the  countryman  of  David  Ritchie,  and  had  the  best 
access  to  collect  anecdotes  of  him. 

"  His  skull,"  says  this  authority,  "  -which  was  of  an 
oblong  and  rather  unusual  shape,  was  said  to  be  of  such 
strength,  that  he  could  strike  it  with  ease  through  the 
panel  of  a  door,  or  the  end  of  a  barrel.  His  laugh  is 
said  to  have  been  quite  horrible  ;  and  his  screech-owl 
voice,  shx'ill,  uncouth,  and  dissonant,  corresponded  well 
with  his  other  peculiarities. 

"  There  was  nothing  veiy  uncommon  about  his  dress. 
He  usually  wore  an  old  slouched  hat  when  he  went 
abroad ;  and  when  at  home,  a  sort  of  cowl,  or  night-cap. 
He  never  wore  shoes,  being  unable  to  adapt  them  to  his 
mis-shapen  finlike  feet,  but  always  had  both  feet  and  legs 
quite  concealed,  and  wrapped  up  with  pieces  of  cloth. 
He  always  walked  with  a  sort  of  pole  or  pike-staff,  con- 
siderably taller  than  himself.  His  habits  were,  in  many 
respects,  singular,  and  indicated  a  mind  congenial  to  its 
uncouth  tabernacle.  A  jealous,  misanthropical,  and  irri- 
table temper  was  his  prominent  characteristic.  The  sense 
of  his  deformity  haunted  him  like  a  phantom.  And  the 
insults  and  scorn  to  which  this  exposed  him,  had  poisoned 
his  heart  with  fierce  and  bitter  feelings,  which  from  other 
points  in  his  character,  do  not  appear  to  have  been  more 
largely  infused  into  his  original  temperament  than  that  of 
his  fellow-men. 

"  He  detested  children  on  account  of  their  propensity 


8  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

to  insult  and  persecute  him.  To  strangers  he  was  gen- 
erally reserved,  crabbed,  and  surly  ;  and  though  he  by 
no  means  refused  assistance  or  charity,  he  seldom  either 
expressed  or  exhibited  much  gratitude.  Even  towai'ds 
persons  who  had  been  his  greatest  benefactors,  and  who 
possessed  the  greatest  share  of  his  good-will,  he  fre- 
quently displayed  much  caprice  and  jealousy.  A  lady 
who  had  known  him  from  his  infancy,  and  who  has  fur- 
nished us  in  the  most  obliging  manner  with  some  particu- 
lars respecting  him,  says,  that  although  Davie  shewed  as 
much  respect  and  attachment  to  her  father's  family  as  it 
was  in  his  nature  to  show  to  any,  yet  they  were  always 
obliged  to  be  very  cautious  in  their  deportment  towards 
him.  One  day,  having  gone  to  visit  him  with  another 
lady,  he  took  them  through  his  garden,  and  was  showing 
them,  with  much  pride  and  good-humour,  all  his  rich  and 
tastefully  assorted  borders,  when  they  happened  to  stop 
near  a  plot  of  cabbages  which  had  been  somewhat  in- 
jured by  the  caterpillars.  Davie  observing  one  of  the 
ladies  smile,  instantly  assumed  his  savage,  scowling  as- 
pect, rushed  among  the  cabbages,  and  dashed  them  to 
pieces  with  his  kent,  exclaiming,  '  I  hate  the  worms,  for 
they  mock  me  ! ' 

"  Another  lady,  likewise  a  friend  and  old  acquaintance 
of  his,  very  unintentionally  gave  David  mortal  offence  on 
a  similar  occasion.  Throwing  back  his  jealous  glance  as 
he  was  ushering  her  into  his  garden,  he  fancied  he  ob- 
served her  spit,  and  exclaimed  with  great  ferocity,  '  Am 
I  a  toad,  woman  !  that  ye  spit  at  me — that  ye  spit  at 
me  ? '  and  without  listening  to  any  answer  or  excuse,  drove 
her  out  of  his  garden  with  imprecations  and  insult.  When 
irritated  by  persons  for  whom  he  entertained  little  respect, 
his  misanthropy  displayed  itself  in  words,  and  sometimes 


INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    BLACK    DWARF.  9 

in  actions,  of  still  greater  rudeness ;  and  he  used  on  such 
occasions  the  most  unusual  and  singularly  savage  impre- 
cations and  threats."  * 

Nature  maintains  a  certain  balance  of  good  and  evil  in 
all  her  works  ;  and  there  is  no  state  perhaps  so  utterly 
desolate,  which  does  not  possess  some  source  of  gratifica- 
tion peculiar  to  itself.  This  poor  man,  whose  misan- 
thropy was  founded  in  a  sense  of  his  own  preternatural 
deformity,  had  yet  his  own  particular  enjoyments.  Driven 
into  solitude,  he  became  an  admirer  of  the  beauties  of 
nature.  His  garden,  which  he  sedulously  cultivated,  and 
from  a  piece  of  wild  moorland  made  a  very  productive 
spot,  was  his  pride  and  his  delight ;  but  he  was  also  an 
admirer  of  more  natural  beauty :  the  soft  sweep  of  the 
green  hill,  the  bubbling  of  a  clear  fountain,  or  the  com- 
plexities of  a  wild  thicket,  were  scenes  on  which  he  often 
gazed  for  hours,  and,  as  he  said,  with  inexpressible  de- 
light. It  was  perhaps  for  this  reason  that  he  was  fond 
of  Shenstone's  pastorals,  and  some  parts  of  Paradise 
Lost.  The  author  has  heard  his  most  unmusical  voice 
repeat  the  celebrated  description  of  Paradise,  which  he 
seemed  fully  to  appreciate.  His  other  studies  were  of  a 
different  cast,  chiefly  polemical.  He  never  went  to  the 
parish  church,  and  was  therefore  suspected  of  entertain- 
ing heterodox  opinions,  though  his  objection  was  prob- 
ably to  the  concourse  of  spectators,  to  whom  he  must 
have  exposed  his  unseemly  deformity.  He  spoke  of  a 
future  state  with  intense  feeling,  and  even  with  tears. 
He  expressed  disgust  at  the  idea  of  his  remains  being 
mixed  with  the  common  rubbish,  as  he  called  it,  of  the 
churchyard,  and  selected  with  his  usual  taste  a  beautiful 
and  wild  spot  in  the  glen  where  he  had  his  hermitage,  in 
*  Scots  Magazine,  vol.  Ixxx.  p.  207. 


10  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

which  to  take  his  last  repose.  He  changed  his  mind, 
however,  and  was  finally  interred  in  the  common  burial- 
ground  of  Manor  Parish.  The  author  has  invested 
Wise  Elshie  with  some  qualities  which  made  him  appear, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  vulgar,  a  man  possessed  of  supernatu- 
ral power.  Common  fame  paid  David  Ritchie  a  similar 
compliment ;  for  some  of  the  poor  and  ignorant,  as  well 
as  all  the  children  in  the  neighbourhood,  held  him  to  be 
what  is  called  uncanny.  He  himself  did  not  altogether 
discourage  the  idea ;  it  enlarged  his  very  limited  cii'cle 
of  power,  and  in  so  far  gratified  his  conceit ;  and  it 
soothed  his  misanthropy,  by  increasing  his  means  of 
giving  terror  or  pain.  But  even  in  a  rude  Scottish  glen 
thirty  years  back,  the  fear  of  sorcery  was  very  much  out 
of  date. 

David  Ritchie  affected  to  frequent  solitary  scenes,  es- 
pecially such  as  were  supposed  to  be  haunted,  and 
valued  himself  upon  his  courage  in  doing  so.  To  be 
sure  he  had  little  chance  of  meeting  anything  more 
ugly  than  himself.  At  heart,  he  was  superstitious,  and 
planted  many  rowans  (mountain  ashes)  around  his  hut, 
as  a  certain  defence  against  necromancy.  For  the  same 
reason,  doubtless,  he  desired  to  have  rowan  trees  set  about 
his  grave. 

We  have  stated  that  David  Ritchie  loved  objects  of 
natural  beauty.  His  only  living  favourites  w-ere  a  dog 
and  a  cat,  to  which  he  was  particularly  attached,  and  his 
bees,  which  he  treated  with  great  care.  He  took  a  sister, 
latterly,  to  live  in  a  hut  adjacent  to  his  own,  but  he  did 
not  permit  her  to  enter  it.  She  was  weak  in  intellect, 
but  not  deformed  in  person  ;  simple,  or  rather  silly,  but 
not,  like  her  brother,  sullen  or  bizarre.  David  was  never 
affectionate  to  her ;  it  was   not  in   his  nature  ;  but  he 


INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    BLACK    DWARF.  H 

endured  her.  He  maintained  himself  and  her  by  the 
sale  of  the  produce  of  their  garden  and  bee-hives  ;  and, 
latterly,  they  had  a  small  allowance  from  the  parish. 
Indeed,  in  the  simple  and  patriarchal  state  in  which  the 
country  then  was,  persons  in  the  situation  of  David  and 
his  sister  were  sure  to  be  supported.  They  had  only  to 
apply  to  the  next  gentleman  or  respectable  farmer,  and 
were  sure  to  find  them  equally  ready  and  willing  to  sup- 
ply their  very  moderate  wants.  David  often  received 
gratuities  from  strangers,  which  he  never  asked,  never 
refused,  and  never  seemed  to  consider  as  an  obhgation. 
He  had  a  right,  indeed,  to  regard  himself  as  one  of 
Nature's  paupers,  to  whom  she  gave  a  title  to  be  main- 
tained by  his  kind,  even  by  that  deformity  which  closed 
against  him  all  ordinary  ways  of  supporting  himself  by 
his  own  labour.  Besides,  a  bag  was  suspended  in  the 
mill  for  David  Ritchie's  benefit ;  and  those  who  were 
carrying  home  a  melder  of  meal,  seldom  failed  to  add  a 
gowpen*  to  the  alms-bag  of  the  deformed  cripple.  In 
short,  David  had  no  occasion  for  money,  save  to  pur- 
chase snuff,  his  only  luxury,  in  which  he  indulged  him- 
self liberally.  When  he  died,  in  the  beginning  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  he  was  found  to  have  hoarded  about  twenty 
pounds,  a  habit  very  consistent  with  his  disposition  ;  for 
wealth  is  power,  and  power  was  what  David  Ritchie  de- 
sired to  possess,  as  a  compensation  for  his  exclusion  fi'om 
human  society. 

His  sister  survived  till  the  publication  of  the  tale  to 
which  this  brief  notice  forms  the  introduction  ;  and  the 
author  is  sorry  to  learn  that  a  sort  of  "  local  sympathy," 
and  the  curiosity  then  expressed  concerning  the  Author 
of  Waverley  and  the  subjects  of  his  Novels,  exposed  the 
*  Handful. 


12  "WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

poor  woman  to  inquiries  which  gave  her  pain.  When 
pressed  about  her  brother's  peculiarities,  she  asked,  in  her 
turn,  why  they  would  not  permit  the  dead  to  rest  ?  To 
others  who  pressed  for  some  account  of  her  parents,  she 
answered  in  the  same  tone  of  feeling. 

The  author  saw  this  poor,  and,  it  may  be  said,  unhappy 
man,  in  autumn  1797.  Being  then,  as  he  has  the  happi- 
ness still  to  remain,  connected  by  ties  of  intimate  friend- 
ship with  the  family  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Adam  Fergus- 
son,  the  philosopher  and  historian,  who  then  resided  at 
the  mansion-house  of  Halyards,  in  the  vale  of  Manor, 
about  a  mile  from  Ritchie's  hermitage,  the  author  was 
upon  a  visit  at  Halyards,  which  lasted  for  several  days, 
and  was  made  acquainted  with  this  singular  anchorite, 
whom  Dr.  Fergusson  considered  as  an  extraordinary 
character,  and  whom  he  assisted  in  various  ways,  par- 
ticularly by  the  occasional  loan  of  books.  Though  the 
taste  of  the  philosopher  and  the  poor  peasant  did  not,  it 
may  be  supposed,  always  correspond,*  Dr.  Fergusson, 
considered  him  as  a  man  of  a  powerful  capacity  and  orig-  , 
inal  ideas,  but  whose  mind  was  thrown  off  its  just  bias 
by  a  predominant  degree  of  self-love  and  self-opinion, 
galled  by  the  sense  of  ridicule  and  contempt,  and  aveng- 
ing itself  upon  society,  in  idea  at  least,  by  a  gloomy  mis- 
anthropy. 

David  Ritchie,  besides  the  utter  obscurity  of  his  life 
while  in  existence,  had  been  dead  for  many  years,  when 
it  occurred  to  the  author  that  such  a  character  might  be 
made  a  powerful  agent  in  fictitious  narrative.     He,  ac- 

*  I  remember  David  was  particularly  anxious  to  see  a  book,  which 
he  called,  I  think,  Letters  to  the  Elect  Ladies,  and  which,  he  said,  was 
the  best  composition  he  had  ever  read;  but  Dr.  Fergusson's  library 
did  not  supply  the  volume. 


INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    BLACK   D"WAKP.  13 

cordingly,  sketched  that  of  Elshie  of  the  Mucklestane- 
Moor.  The  story  was  intended  to  be  longer,  and  the 
catastrophe  more  artificially  brought  out ;  but  a  friendly 
critic,  to  whose  opinion  I  subjected  the  work  in  its  progress, 
was  of  opinion,  that  the  idea  of  the  Solitary  was  of  a  kind 
too  revolting,  and  more  likely  to  disgust  than  to  interest 
the  reader.  As  I  had  good  right  to  consider  my  adviser 
as  an  excellent  judge  of  public  opinion,  I  got  off  my 
subject  by  hastening  the  story  to  an  end,  as  fast  as  it  was 
possible ;  and,  by  huddling  into  one  volume,  a  tale  which 
was  designed  to  occupy  two,  have  perhaps  produced  a 
narrative  as  much  disproportioned  and  distorted,  as  the 
Black  Dwarf,  who  is  its  subject 


THE     BLACK    DWARF. 


CHAPTER  L 


PKELIMINARY. 


Hast  any  philosophy  in  thee,  Shepherd? 

As  You  Like  It. 

It  was  a  fine  April  morning  (excepting  tliat  it  had 
snowed  hard  the  night  before,  and  the  ground  remained 
covered  with  a  dazzling  mantle  of  six  inches  in  depth) 
when  two  horsemen  rode  up  to  the  Wallace  Inn,     The 


16  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

first  was  a  strong,  tall,  powerful  man,  in  a  grey  riding 
coat,  having  a  hat  covered  with  wax-cloth,  a  huge  silver- 
mounted  horsewhip,  boots,  and  dreadnought  overalls.  He 
was  mounted  on  a  large  strong  brown  mare,  rough  in  coat 
but  well  in  condition,  with  a  saddle  of  the  yeomanry  cut, 
and  a  double-bitted  military  bridle.  The  man  who  accom- 
panied him  was  apparently  his  servant ;  he  rode  a  shaggy 
little  grey  pony,  had  a  blue  bonnet  on  his  head,  and  a 
large  check  napkin  folded  about  his  neck,  wore  a  pair  of 
long  blue  worsted  hose  instead  of  boots,  had  his  gloveless 
hands  much  stained  with  tar,  and  observed  an  air  of  defer- 
ence and  respect  towards  his  companion,  but  without  any 
of  those  indications  of  precedence  and  punctilio  which  are 
preserved  between  the  gentry  and  their  domestics.  On 
the  contrary,  the  two  travellers  entered  the  court-yard 
abreast,  and  the  concluding  sentence  of  the  conversation 
which  had  been  carrying  on  betwixt  them  was  a  joint 
ejaculation,  "  Lord  guide  us,  an  this  weather  last,  what 
will  come  o'  the  lambs  ! "  The  hint  was  sufficient  for  my 
Landlord,  who,  advancing  to  take  the  horse  of  the  prin- 
cipal person,  and  holding  him  by  the  reins  as  he  dis- 
mounted, while  his  ostler  rendered  the  same  service  to 
the  attendant,  welcomed  the  stranger  to  Gandercleugh, 
and,  in  the  same  breath,  inquired,  "  What  news  from  the 
south  hielands  ?  " 

"  News  ?  "  said  the  farmer,  "  bad  enough  news,  I  think  ; 
— an  we  can  carry  through  the  yowes,  it  will  be  a'  we 
can  do  ;  we  maun  e'en  leave  the  lambs  to  the  Black 
Dwarf's  care." 

"  Ay,  ay,"  subjoined  the  old  shepherd,  (for  such  he 
was,)  shaking  his  head,  "  he'll  be  unco  busy  amang  the 
morts  this  season." 

"  The   Black  Dwarf ! "  said    mxj  learned  friend  and 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  17 

patron*  Mr.  Jedediah  Cleishbotham,  "  and  what  sort  of  a 
personage  may  he  be  ?  " 

"  Hout  awa',  man,"  answered  the  fanner,  "ye'Il  hae 
heard  o'  Canny  Elshie  the  Black  Dwarf,  or  I  am  muckle 
mistaen — A'  the  warld  tells  tales  about  him,  but  it's  but 
daft  nonsense  after  a' — I  dinna  believe  a  word  o't  frae 
beginning  to  end." 

"  Your  father  believed  it  unco  stievely,  though,"  said 
the  old  man,  to  whom  the  scepticism  of  his  master  gave 
obvious  displeasure. 

"  Ay,  very  true,  Bauldie,  but  that  was  in  the  time  o' 
the  black-faces — they  believed  a  hantle  queer  things  in 
thae  days,  that  naebody  heeds  since  the  lang  sheep  cam 
in." 

"  The  mair's  the  pity,  the  mair's  the  pity,"  said  the  old 
man.  "  Your  father, — and  sae  I  have  aften  tell'd  ye, 
maister, — wad  hae  been  sair  vexed  to  hae  seen  the  auld 
peel-house  wa's  pu'd  down  to  make  park -dykes ;  and  the 
bonny  broomy  knowe  where  he  liked  sae  weel  to  sit  at 
e'en,  wi'  his  plaid  about  him,  and  look  at  the  kye  as  they 
cam  down  the  loaning,  ill  wad  he  hae  liked  to  hae  seen 
that  braw  sunny  knowe  a'  riven  out'  wi'  the  pleugh  in  the 
fashion  it  is  at  this  day." 

"  Hout,  Bauldie,"  replied  the  principal,  "  tak  ye  that 
dram  the  landlord's  offering  ye,  and  never  fosh  your  head 
about  the  changes  o'  the  warld,  sae  lang  as  ye're  blithe 
and  bien  yoursell." 

*  We  have,  in  this  and  other  instances,  printed  in  italics  some  few 
words  which  the  worthy  editor,  Mr.  Jedediah  Cleishbotham,  seems  to 
have  interpolated  upon  the  text  of  his  deceased  friend,  Mr.  Pattieson. 
We  must  observe,  once  for  all,  that  such  liberties  seem  only  to  have 
been  taken  by  the  learned  gentleman  where  his  own  character  and 
conduct  are  concerned ;  and  surely  he  must  be  the  best  judge  of  the 
style  in  which  his  own  character  and  conduct  should  be  treated  of. 

VOL.  XI.  2 


18  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Wussing  your  health,  sirs,"  said  the  shepherd  ;  and 
having  taken  oft'  his  glass,  and  observed  the  whisky  was 
the  right  thing,  lie  continued,  "  It's  no  for  the  lilve  o'  us 
to  be  judging,  to  be  sure  ;  but  it  was  a  bonny  knowe  that 
broomy  knowe,  and  an  unco  braw  shelter  for  the  lambs 
in  a  severe  morning  like  this." 

"  Ay,"  said  his  patron,  "  but  ye  ken  we  maun  hae 
turnips  for  tlie  lang  sheep,  billie,  and  muckle  liard  wark 
to  get  them,  baith  wi'  the  pleugh  and  the  howe  ;  and  that 
wad  sort  ill  wi'  sitting  on  tlie  broomy  knowe,  and  crack- 
ing about  Black  Dwarfs,  and  siccan  clavers,  as  was 
the  gate  lang  syne,  wlaen  the  short  slieep  were  in  the 
fashion." 

"  Aweel,  aweel,  maister,"  said  the  attendant,  "  sliort 
sheep  had  short  rents,  I'm  thinking." 

Here  my  worthy  and  learned  patron  again  interposed, 
and  observed,  "that  he  could  never  perceive  any  material 
difference,  in  point  of  longitude,  between  one  sheep  and 
another." 

This  occasioned  a  loud  hoarse  laugh  on  the  part  of  the 
farmer,  and  an  astonished  stare  on  the  part  of  the  shepherd. 
"It's  the  woo',  man, — it's  the  woo',  and  no  the  beasts  them- 
sells,  that  makes  them  be  ca'd  lang  or  short.  I  believe 
if  ye  were  to  measure  their  backs,  the  short  sheep  wad 
be  rather  the  langerbodied  o'  the  twa ;  but  it's  the  woo' 
that  pays  the  rent  in  thae  days,  and  it  had  muckle  need." 

"  Odd,  Bauldi*e  says  very  true, — short  sheep  did  make 
short  rents — my  father  paid  for  our  steading  just  three- 
score punds,  and  it  stands  me  in  three  hundred,  plack 
and  bawbee. — And  that's  very  true — I  hae  nae  time  to 
be  standing  here  clavering — Landlord,  get  us  our  break- 
fast, and  see  an'  get  the  yauds  fed — I  am  for  doun  to 
Christy  Wilson's,  to  see  if  him  and  me  can  gree  about 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  19 

the  luckpenny  I  am  to  gie  him  for  his  yearaulds.  We 
had  drank  sax  mutchkins  to  the  making  the  bargain  at 
St.  Boswell's  fair,  and  some  gate  we  caona  gree  upon  the 
particulars  preceesely,  for  as  muckle  time  as  we  took 
about  it — I  doubt  we  draw  to  a  plea — But  hear  ye, 
neighbour,"  addressing  my  worthy  and  learned  patron, 
"  if  ye  want  to  hear  ony  thing  about  lang  or  short  sheep, 
I  will  be  back  here  to  my  kail  against  ane  o'clock  ;  or,  if 
ye  want  ony  auld  warld  stories  about  the  Black  Dwarf, 
and  sic-like,  if  ye'll  ware  a  half  mutchkin  upon  Bauldie 
there,  he'll  crack  t'ye  like  a  pen-gun.  And  I'se  gie  ye  a 
mutchkin  mysell,  man,  if  I  can  settle  weel  wi'  Christy 
Wilson." 

The  farmer  returned  at  the  hour  appointed,  and  with 
him  came  Christy  Wilson,  their  difference  having  been 
fortunately  settled  without  an  appeal  to  the  gentlemen 
of  the  long  robe.  My  learned  and  worthy  patron  failed 
not  to  attend,  both  on  account  of  the  refreshment  promised 
to  the  mind  and  to  the  body,  although  he  is  known  to 
partake  of  the  latter  in  a  very  moderate  degree  ;  and  the 
party,  Avith  which  my  Landlord  was  associated,  continued 
to  sit  late  in  the  evening,  seasoning  their  liquor  with 
many  choice  tales  and  songs.  The  last  incident  which  I 
recollect,  was  my  learned  and  worthy  patron  falling  from 
his  chair,  just  as  he  concluded  a  long  lecture  upon  tem- 
perance, by  reciting,  from  the  Gentle  Shepherd,  a  couplet, 
\thich  he  right  happily  transferred  from  the  vice  of  avar- 
ice to  that  of  ebriety  : — 

He  that  has  just  eneugh  may  soundly  sleep, 
The  owercome  only  faslies  folk  to  keep. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  the   Black  Dwarf*  had 

*  The  Black  Dwarf,  now  almost  forgotten,  was  once  held  a  formi- 
dable personage  by  the  dalesmen  of  the  Border,  where  he  got  the  blame 


20  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

not  been  forgotten,  and  the  old  shepherd,  Bauldie,  told  so 
many  stories  of  him,  that  they  excited  a  good  deal  of 
interest.  It  also  appeared,  though  not  till  the  third 
punch-bowl  was  emptied,  that  much  of  the  farmer's  scepti- 
cism on  the  subject  was  affected,  as  evincing  a  liberality 
of  thinking,  and  a  freedom  from  ancient  prejudices,  be- 
coming a  man  who  paid  three  hundred  pounds  a-year  of 
rent,  while,  in  fact,  he  had  a  lurking  belief  in  the  tradi- 

of  whatever  mischief  befell  the  sheep  or  cattle.  "  He  was,"  says  Dr. 
Leyden,  who  makes  considerable  use  of  him  in  the  ballad -called  the 
Cowt  of  Keeldar,  "  a  fairy  of  the  most  malignant  order — the  genuine 
Northern  Duergar."  The  best  and  most  authentic  account  of  this 
dangerous  and  mystei'ious  being  occurs  in  a  tale  communicated  to  the 
author  by  that  eminent  antiquary,  Eichard  Surtees,  Esq.  of  Mains- 
forth,  author  of  the  History  of  the  Bishopric  of  Durham. 

According  to  this  well  attested  legend,  two  young  Northumbrians 
were  out  on  a  shooting  party,  and  had  plunged  deep  among  the  moun- 
tainous moorlands  which  border  on  Cumberland.  They  stopped  for 
refreshment  in  a  little  secluded  dell  by  the  side  of  the  rivulet.  There, 
after  they  had  partaken  of  such  food  as  they  brought  with  them,  one 
of  the  party  fell  asleep;  the  other,  unwilling  to  disturb  his  friend's 
repose,  stole  silently  out  of  the  dell  with  the  purpose  of  looking  around 
him,  when  he  was  astonished  to  find  himself  close  to  a  being  who 
seemed  not  to  belong  to  this  world,  as  he  was  the  most  hideous  dwarf 
that  the  sun  had  ever  shone  on.  His  head  was  of  full  human  size, 
forming  a  frightful  contrast  with  his  height,  which  was  considerably 
under  four  feet.  It  was  thatched  with  no  other  covering  than  long 
matted  red  hair,  like  that  of  the  felt  of  a  badger  in  consistence,  and 
in  colour  a  reddish  brown,  like  the  hue  of  a  heather  blossom.  His 
limbs  seemed  of  great  strength ;  nor  was  he  otherwise  deformed  than 
from  their  undue  proportion  in  thickness  to  his  diminutive  height. 
The  terrified  sportsman  stood  gazing  on  this  horrible  apparition,  until, 
with  an  angry  countenance,  the  being  demanded  by  what  right  he 
intruded  himself  on  those  hills,  and  destroyed  their  harmless  inhabi- 
tants. The  perplexed  stranger  endeavoured  to  propitiate  the  incensed 
dwarf,  by  offering  to  surrender  his  game,  as  he  would  to  an  earthly 
Lord  of  the  Manor.  The  proposal  only  redoubled  the  offence  already 
taken  by  the  dwarf,  who  alleged  that  he  was  the  lord  of  those  moun- 
tains, and  the  protector  of  the  wild  creatures  who  found  a  retreat  in 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  21 

tions  of  his  forefathers.  After  my  usual  manner,  I  made 
further  inquiries  of  other  persons  connected  with  the  wild 
and  pastoral  district  in  which  the  scene  of  the  following 
narrative  is  placed,  and  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  recover 
many  links  of  the  story,  not  generally  known,  and  which 
account,  at  least  in  some  degree,  for  the  circumstances  of 
exaggerated  marvel  with  which  supei'stition  has  attired  it 
in  the  more  vulgar  traditions. 

their  solitary  recesses ;  and  that  all  spoils  derived  from  their  death,  or 
misery,  were  abhoiTeiit  to  him.  The  hunter  humbled  himself  before 
the  angry  goblin,  and  by  protestations  of  his  ignorance,  and  of  his 
resolution  to  abstain  from  such  intrusion  in  futm-e,  at  last  succeeded 
in  pacifying  him.  The  gnome  now  became  more  communicative,  and 
spoke  of  himself  as  belonging  to  a  species  of  beings  something  between 
the  angelic  race  and  humanity.  He  added,  moreover,  which  could 
hardly  have  been  anticipated,  that  he  had  hopes  of  sharing  in  the 
redemption  of  the  race  of  Adam.  He  pressed  the  sportsman  to  visit 
his  dwelling,  which  he  said  was  hard  by,  and  plighted  his  fate  for  his 
safe  return.  But  at  this  moment  the  shout  of  the  sportsman's  com- 
panion was  heard  calling  for  his  friend,  and  the  dwarf,  as  if  unwilling 
that  more  than  one  person  should  be  cognizant  of  his  presence,  disap- 
peared as  the  young  man  emerged  from  the'  dell  to  join  his  comrade. 

It  was  the  universal  opinion  of  those  most  experienced  in  such  mat- 
ters, that  if  the  shooter  had  accompanied  the  spirit,  he  would,  not- 
withstanding the  dwarf's  fair  pretences,  have  been  either  torn  to 
pieces,  or  immured  for  years  in  the  recesses  of  some  fairy  hiU. 

Such  is  the  last  and  most  authentic  account  of  the  apparition  of  the 
Black  Dwarf. 


22  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  11. 

Will  none  but  Hearne  the  hunter  serve  your  turn? 

Merry  Wives  or  Windsor. 

In  one  of  tlie  most  remote  districts  of  the  south  of 
Scotland,  where  an  ideal  line,  drawn  along  the  tops  of 
lofty  and  bleak  mountains,  separates  that  land  from  her 
sister  kingdom,  a  young  man  called  Halbert,  or  Hobbie 
Elliot,  a  substantial  farmer,  who  boasted  his  descent  from 
old  Martin  Elliot  of  the  Preakin-tower,  noted  in  Border 
story  and  song,  was  on  his  return  from  deer-stalking. 
The  deer,  once  so  numerous  among  these  solitary  wastes, 
were  now  reduced  to  a  very  few  herds,  which,  sheltering 
themselves  in  the  most  remote  and  inaccessible  recesses, 
rendered  the  task  of  pursuing  them  equally  toilsome  and 
precarious.  There  were,  however,  found  many  youth  of 
the  country  ardently  attached  to  this  sport,  with  all  its 
dangers  and  fatigues.  The  sword  had  been  sheathed 
upon  the  Borders  for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  by  the 
peaceful  union  of  the  crowns  in  the  reign  of  James  the 
First  of  Great  Britain.  Still  the  country  retained  traces 
of  what  it  had  been  in  former  days  ;  the  inhabitants,  their 
more  peaceful  avocations  having  been  repeatedly  inter- 
rupted by  the  civil  wars  of  the  preceding  century,  were 
scarce  yet  broken  into  the  habits  of  regular  industry,  sheep- 
farming  had  not  been  introduced  upon  any  considerable 
scale,  and  the  feeding  of  black  cattle  was  the  chief  pur- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  23 

pose  to  which  the  hills  and  valleys  were  applied.  Near 
to  the  farmer's  house,  the  tenant  usually  contrived  to 
raise  such  a  crop  of  oats  or  barley  as  aflforded  meal  for 
his  family ;  and  the  whole  of  this  slovenly  and  imperfect 
mode  of  cultivation  left  much  time  upon  his  own  hands, 
and  those  of  his  domestics.  This  was  usually  employed 
by  the  young  men  in  hunting  and  fishing;  and  the  spirit 
of  adventure,  which  formerly  led  to  raids  and  forays  in 
the  same  districts,  was  still  to  be  discovered  in  the  eager- 
ness with  Avhich  they  pursued  those  rural  sports. 

The  more  high-spirited  among  the  youth  were,  about 
the  time  that  our  narrative  begins,  expecting,  rather  with 
hope  than  apprehension,  an  opportunity  of  emulating 
their  fathers  in  their  military  achievements,  the  recital  of 
which  formed  the  chief  part  of  their  amusement  within 
doors.  The  passing  of  the  Scottish  act  of  security  had 
given  the  alarm  to  England,  as  it  seemed  to  point  at  a 
separation  of  the  two  British  kingdoms,  after  the  decease 
of  Queen  Anne,  the  reigning  sovereign.  Godolphin,  then 
at  the  head  of  the  English  administration,  foresaw  that 
there  was  no  other  mode  of  avoiding  the  probable  ex- 
tremity of  a  civil  war,  but  by  carrying  through  an  incor- 
porating union.  H*ow  that  treaty  was  managed,  and  how 
little  it  seemed  for  some  time  to  promise  the  beneficial 
results  which  have  since  taken  place  to  such  extent,  may 
be  learned  from  the  history  of  the  period.  It  is  enough 
for  our  purpose  to  say,  that  all  Scotland  was  indignant  at 
the  terms  on  which  their  legislature  had  surrendered  their 
national  independence.  The  general  resentment  led  to 
the  strangest  leagues  and  to  the  wildest  plans.  The 
Cameronians  were  about  to  take  arms  for  the  restoration 
of  the  house  of  Stuart,  whom  they  regarded,  with  justice, 
as  their  oppressors ;  and  the  intrigues  of  the  period  pre- 


24  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

sented  the  strange  picture  of  papists,  prelatists,  and  pres- 
byterians,  caballing  among  themselves  against  the  English 
government,  out  of  a  common  feeling  that  their  country 
had  been  treated  with  injustice.  The  fermentation  was 
universal ;  and,  as  the  population  of  Scotland  had  been 
generally  trained  to  arms,  under  the  act  of  security,  they 
were  not  indiiferently  prepared  for  war,  and  waited  but 
the  declaration  of  some  of  the  nobility  to  break  out  into 
open  hostility.  It  was  at  this  period  of  public  confusion 
that  our  story  opens. 

The  cleugh,  or  wild  ravine,  into  which  Hobbie  Elliot 
had  followed  the  game,  was  already  far  behind  him,  and 
he  was  considerably  advanced  on  his  return  homeward, 
when  the  night  began  to  close  upon  him.  This  Avould 
have  been  a  circumstance  of  great  inditference  to  the 
experienced  sportsman,  who  could  have  walked  blindfold 
over  every  inch  of  his  native  heaths,  had  it  not  happened 
near  a  spot,  which,  according  to  the  traditions  of  the 
country,  was  in  extremely  bad  fame,  as  haunted  by  super- 
natural appearances.  To  tales  of  this  kind  Hobbie  had, 
from  his  childhood,  lent  an  attentive  ear ;  and  as  no  part 
of  the  country  afforded  such  a  variety  of  legends,  so  no 
man  was  more  deeply  read  in  their  fearful  lore  than 
Hobbie  of  the  Heugh-foot ;  for  so  our  gallant  was  called, 
to  distinguish  him  from  a  round  dozen  of  Elliots  who 
bore  the  same  Christian  name.  It  cost  him  no  efforts, 
therefore,  to  call  to  memory  the  terrihc  incidents  con- 
nected with  the  extensive  waste  upon  which  he  was  now 
entering.  In  fact  they  presented  themselves  with  a 
readiness  which  he  felt  to  be  somewhat  dismaying. 

This  dreary  common  was  called  Mucklestane-Moor, 
from  a  huge  column  of  unhewn  granite,  which  raised  its 
massy  head  on  a  knoll  near  the  centre  of  the  heath, 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  25 

perhaps  to  fell  of  the  mighty  dead  who  slept  beneath,  or 
to  preserve  the  memory  of"  some  bloody  skirmish.  The 
real  cause  of  its  existence  had,  however,  passed  away ; 
and  tradition,  which  is  as  frequently  an  inventor  of  fiction 
as  a  preserver  of  truth,  had  supplied  its  place  with  a 
supplementary  legend  of  her  own,  which  now  came  full 
upon  Hobbie's  memory.  The  ground  about  the  pillar 
was  strewed,  or  rather  encumbered,  with  many  large 
fragments  of  stone  of  the  same  consistence  with  the 
column,  Avhich,  from  their  appearance  as  they  lay  scat- 
tered on  the  waste,  were  popularly  called  the  Grey  Geese 
of  Mucklestane-Moor.  The  legend  accounted  for  this 
name  and  appearance  by  the  catastrophe  of  a  noted  and 
most  formidable  witch  who  frequented  these  hills  in  former 
days,  causing  the  ewes  to  keb,  and  the  kine  to  cast  their 
calves,  and  performing  all  the  feats  of  mischief  ascribed 
to  these  evil  beings.  On  this  moor  she  used  to  hold  her 
revels  with  her  sister  hags  ;  and  rings  were  still  pointed 
out  on  which  no  grass  nor  heath  ever  grew,  the  turf  being, 
as  it  were,  calcined  by  the  scorching  hoofs  of  their  dia- 
bolical jDartners. 

Once  upon  a  time  this  old  hag  is  said  to  have  crossed 
the  moor,  driving  before  her  a  flock  of  geese,  which  she 
proposed  to  sell  to  advantage  at  a  neighbouring  fair  ;  for 
it  is  well  known  that  the  Fiend,  however  liberal  in  im- 
parting his  powers  of  doing  mischief,  ungenerously  leaves 
his  allies  under  the  necessity  of  performing  the  meanest 
rustic  labours  for  subsistence.  The  day  was  far  advanced, 
and  her  chance  of  obtaining  a  good  price  depended  on 
her  being  first  at  the  market.  But  the  geese,  which  had 
hitherto  preceded  her  in  a  pretty  orderly  manner,  when 
they  came  to  this  wide  common,  interspersed  with  marshes 
and  pools  of  water,  scattered  in  every  direction,  to  plunge 


26  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

into  the  element  in  which  they  delighted.  Incensed  at 
the  obstinacy  with  which  they  defied  all  her  efforts  to 
collect  them,  and  not  remembering  the  precise  terms  of 
the  contract  by  which  the  Fiend  was  bound  to  obey  her 
commands  for  a  certain  space,  the  sorceress  exclaimed, 
"  Deevil,  that  neither  I  nor  they  ever  stir  from  this'  spot 
more  !  "  The  words  were  hardly  uttered,  when,  by  a 
metamorphosis  as  sudden  as  any  in  Ovid,  the  hag  and  her 
refractory  flock  were  converted  into  stone,  the  angel 
Avhom  she  served,  being  a  strict  formalist,  grasping  eagerly 
at  an  opportunity  of  completing  the  ruin  of  her  body  and 
soul  by  a  literal  obedience  to  her  orders.  It  is  said,  that 
when  she  perceived  and  felt  the  transformation  which  was 
about  to  take  place,  she  exclaimed  to  the  treacherous 
Fiend,  "  Ah,  thou  false  thief !  lang  hast  thou  promised 
me  a  grey  gown,  and  now  I  am  getting  ane  that  will  last 
for  ever."  The  dimensions  of  the  pillar,  and  of  the 
stones,  were  often  appealed  to,  as  a  j^roof  of  the  superior 
stature  and  size  of  old  women  and  geese  in  the  days  of 
other  years,  by  those  praisers  of  the  past  who  held 
the  comfortable  opinion  of  the  gradual  degeneracy  of 
mankind. 

All  particulars  of  this  legend  Hobbie  called  to  mind  as 
he  passed  along  the  moor.  He  also  remembered,  that, 
since  the  catastrophe  had  taken  place,  the  scene  of  it  had 
been  avoided,  at  least  after  night-fall,  by  all^  human 
beings,  as  being  the  ordinary  resort  of  kelpies,  spunkies, 
and  other  demons,  once  the  companions  of  the  witch's 
diabolical  revels,  and  now  continuing  to  rendezvous  upon 
the  same  spot,  as  if  still  in  attendance  on  their  trans- 
formed mistress.  Hobble's  natural  hardihood,  however, 
manfully  combated  with  these  intrusive  sensations  of  awe. 
He  summoned  to  his  side  the  brace  of  large   greyhounds, 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  27 

who  were  the  companions  of  his  sports,  and  who  were 
wont,  in  his  own  phrase,  to  fear  neither  dog  nor  devil ; 
he  looked  at  the  priming  of  his  piece,  and,  like  the  clown 
in  Hallowe'en,  whistled  up  the  warlike  ditty  of  Jock 
of  the  Side,  as  a  general  causes  his  drums  to  beat  to 
inspirit  the  doubtful  courage  of  his  soldiers. 

In  this  state  of  mind,  he  was  very  glad  to  hear  a 
friendly  voice  shout  in  his  rear,  and  propose  to  him  a 
partner  on  the  road.  He  slackened  his  pace,  and  was 
quickly  joined  by  a  youth  well  known  to  him,  a  gentleman 
of  some  fortune  in  that  remote  country,  and  who  had 
been  abroad  on  the  same  errand  with  himself.  Young 
Earnscliff,  "  of  that  ilk,"  had  lately  come  of  age,  and 
succeeded  to  a  moderate  fortune,  a  good  deal  dilapidated, 
from  the  share  his  family  had  taken  in  the  disturbances 
of  the  period.  They  were  much  and  generally  respected 
in  the  country  ;  a  reputation  which  this  young  gentleman 
seemed  likely  to  sustain,  as  he  was  well  educated,  and  of 
excellent  dispositions. 

"  Now,  Earnscliff,"  exclaimed  Hobbie,  "  I  am  glad  to 
meet  your  honour  ony  gate,  and  company's  blithe  on  a 
bare  moor  like  this — it's  an  unco  bogilly  bit — Where  hae 
ye  been  sporting  ?  " 

«  Up  the  Carla  Cleugh,  Hobbie,"  answered  Earnscliff, 
returning  his  greeting.  "But  will  our  dogs  keep  the 
peace,  think  you  ?  " 

"  Deil  a  fear  o'  mine,"  said  Hobbie,  "  they  hae  scarce 
a  leg  to  stand  on.  Odd  !  the  deer's  fled  the  country,  I 
think !  I  have  been  as  far  as  Ingerfell-foot,  and  deil  a 
horn  has  Hobbie  seen,  excepting  three  red-wud  raes,  that 
never  let  me  within  shot  of  them,  though  I  gaed  a  mile 
round  to  get  up  the  wind  to  them,  an'  a'.  Deil  o'  me 
wad  care  muckle,  only  I  wanted  some  venison  to  our  auld 


28  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

gude-darae.  The  carline,  she  sits  in  the  neuk  yonder, 
upbye,  and  cracks  about  the  grand  shooters  and  hunters 
lang  syne — Odd,  I  think  they  hae  killed  a'  the  deer  in 
the  country,  for  my  part." 

"  Well,  Hobbie,  I  have  shot  a  fat  buck,  and  sent  him 
to  EarnsclifF  this  morning — you  shall  have  half  of  him 
for  your  grandmother." 

"  Mony  thanks  to  ye,  Mr,  Patrick,  ye're  kend  to  a'  the 
country  for  a  kind  heart.  It  will  do  the  auld  wife's  heart 
gude — mair  by  token,  when  she  kens  it  comes  frae  you — 
and  maist  of  a',  gin  ye'll  come  up  and  take  your  share, 
for  I  reckon  ye  are  lonesome  now  in  the  auld  tower,  and 
a'  your  folk  at  that  weary  Edinburgh.  I  wonder  what 
they  can  find  to  do  amang  a  wheen  ranks  o'  stane  houses 
wi'  slate  on  the  tap  o'  them,  that  might  live  on  their  ain 
bonny  green  hills." 

"  My  education  and  my  sisters'  has  kept  my  mother 
much  in  Edinburgh  for  several  years,"  said  Earnscliff, 
"  but  I  promise  you  I  propose  to  make  up  for  lost  time." 

"  And  ye'll  rig  out  the  auld  tower  a  bit,"  said  Hobbie, 
"  and  live  hearty  and  neighbourlike  wi'  the  auld  family 
friends,  as  the  Laird  o'  Earnscliff  should?  I  can  tell  ye, 
my  mother — my  grandmother  I  mean — but,  since  we  lost 
our  ain  mother,  we  ca'  her  sometimes  the  tane,  and  some- 
times the  tother — but,  ony  gate,  she  conceits  hersell  no 
that  distant  connected  wi'  you." 

"  Very  true,  Hobbie,  and  I  will  come  to  the  Heugh- 
foot  to  dinner  to-morrow  with  all  my  heart." 

"  Weel,  that's  kindly  said  !  We  are  auld  neighbours, 
an  we  were  nae  'kin — and  my  gude-dame's  fain  to  see 
you — she  clavers  about  your  father  that  was  killed  lang 
syne." 

"  Hush,  hush,  Hobbie — not  a  word  about  that — it's  a 
story  better  forgotten." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  29 

"  I  dinna  ken — if  it  had  chanced  amang  our  folk,  we 
wad  hae  keepit  it  in  mind  mony  a  day  till  we  got  some 
mends  for't — but  ye  ken  your  ain  ways  best,  you  lairds — 
I  have  heard  that  EUieslaw's  friend  stickit  your  sire  after 
the  laird  himsell  had  mastered  his  sword." 

"  Fie,  fie,  Hobbie  ;  it  was  a  foolish  brawl,  occasioned 
by  wine  and  politics — many  swo;-ds  were  drawn — it  is 
impossible  to  say  who  struck  the  blow." 

"  At  ony  rate,  auld  EUieslaw  was  aiding  and  abetting ; 
and  I  am  sure  if  ye  were  sae  disposed  as  to  take  amends 
on  him,  naebody  could  say  it  was  wrang,  for  your  father's 
blood  is  beneath  his  nails — and  besides,  there's  naebody 
else  left  that  was  concerned  to  take  amends  upon,  and 
he's  a  prelatist  and  a  Jacobite  into  the  bargain — I  can  tell 
ye  the  country  folk  look  for  something  atween  ye." 

"  0,  for  shame,  Hobbie  !  "  replied  the  young  Laird  ; 
"  you,  that  pi'ofess  religion,  to  stir  your  friend  up  to  break 
the  law,  and  take  vengeance  at  his  own  hand,  and  in  such 
a  bogilly  bit  too,  Avhere  we  know  not  what  beings  may  be 
listening  to  us  !  " 

"  Hush,  hush ! "  said  Hobbie,  drawing  nearer  to  his 
companion,  "  I  wasna  thinking  o'  the  like  o'  them — But  I 
can  guess  a  wee  bit  what  keeps  your  hand  up,  Mr. 
Patrick  ;  we  a'ken '  it's  no  lack  o'  courage,  but  the  twa 
grey  een  of  a  bonny  lass,  Miss  Isabel  Vere,  that  keeps 
you  sae  sober." 

"  I  assure  you,  Hobbie."  said  his  companion,  rather 
angrily,  "  I  assure  you  you  are  mistaken ;  and  it  is  ex- 
tremely wrong  of  you,  either  to  think  of,  or  utter,  such  an 
idea ;  I  have  no  idea  of  permitting  freedoms  to  be  carried 
so  far  as  to  connect  my  name  with  that  of  any  young 
lady." 

"  Why,  there  now — there  now  !  "  retorted  Elliot ;  "  did 


30  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

I  not  say  it  wasna  want  o'  spunk  that  made  ye  sae  mim  ? 
— Weel,  weel,  I  meant  nae  offence ;  but  there's  just  ae 
thing  ye  may  notice  frae  a  friend.  The  auld  Laird  of 
Ellieslaw  has  the  auld  riding  blood  far  better  at  his  heart 
than  ye  hae — troth,  he  kens  naething  about  thae  new- 
fangled notions  o'  peace  and  quietness — he's  a'  for  the 
auld-warld  doings  o'  lifting  and  laying  on,  and  he  has  a 
wheen  stout  lads  at  his  back  too,  and  keeps  them  weel  up 
in  heart,  and  as  fu'  o'  mischief  as  young  colts.  Where  he 
gets  the  gear  to  do't,  nane  can  say ;  he  lives  high,  and 
far  abune  his  rents  here ;  however,  he  pays  his  way — 
Sae,  if  there's  ony  outbreak  in  the  country,  he's  likely  to 
break  out  wi'  the  first — and  weel  does  he  mind  the  auld 
quarrels  between  ye.  I  am  surmising  he'll  be  for  a  touch 
at  the  auld  tower  at  EarnsclifF." 

"  Well,  Hobbie,"  answered  the  young  gentleman,  "  if 
he  should  be  so  ill-advised,  I  shall  try  to  make  the  old 
tower  good  against  him,  as  it  has  been  made  good  by  my 
betters  against  his  betters  many  a  day  ago." 

"  Very  right — very  right — that's  speaking  like  a  man 
now,"  said  the  stout  yeoman ;  "  and,  if  sae  should  be  that 
this  be  sae,  if  ye'll  just  gar  your  servant  jow  out  the  great 
bell  in  the  tower,  there's  me,  and  my  twa  brothers,  and 
little  Davie  of  the  Stenhouse,  will  be  wi'  you,  wi'  a'  the 
power  we  can  make,  in  the  snapping  of  a  flint." 

"  Many  thanks,  Hobbie,"  answered  Earnscliff;  "but  I 
hope  we  shall  have  no  war  of  so  unnatural  and  unchris- 
tian a  kind  in  our  time." 

"  Hout,  sir,  hout,"  replied  Elliot;  "  it  wad  be  but  a 
wee  bit  neighbour  war,  and  Heaven  and  earth  would 
make  allowances  for  it  in  this  uncultivated  place — it's  just 
the  nature  o'  the  folk  and  the  land — we  canna  live  quiet 
like  London  folk — we  haena  sae  muckle  to  do.  It's  im- 
possible." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  31 

"Well,  Hobbie,"  said  the  Laird,  "for  one  who  believes 
so  deeply  as  you  do  in  supernatural  appearances,  I  must 
own  you  take  Heaven  in  your  own  hand  rather  auda- 
ciously, considering  where  we  are  walking." 

"What  needs  I  care  for  the  Mucklestane-Moor  ony 
mair  than  ye  do  yoursell,  Earnscliff  ? "  said  Hobbie, 
somewhat  offended.  "  To  be  sure,  they  do  say  there's  a 
sort  o'  worricows  and  lang-nebbit  things  about  the  land, 
but  what  need  I  care  for  them  ?  I  hae  a  good  conscience, 
and  little  to  answer  for,  unless  it  be  about  a  rant  among 
the  lasses,  or  a  s[)lore  at  a  fair,  and  that's  no  muckle  to 
speak  of.     Though  I  say  it  mysell,  I  am  as  quiet  a  lad 

and  as  peaceable " 

"  And  Dick  Turn  bull's  head  that  you  broke,  and  Willie 
of  Winton  whom  you  shot  at  ?  "  said  his  travelling  com- 
panion. 

"  Hout,  Earnscliff,  ye  keep  a  record  of  a'  men's  mis- 
doings— Dick's  head's  healed  again,  and  we're  to  fight 
out  the  quarrel  at  Jeddart,  on  the  Rood-day,  so  that's 
like  a  thing  settled  in  a  peaceable  way ;  and  then  I  am 
friends  wi'  Willie  again,  puir  chield — it  was  but  twa  or 
three  hail  drops  after  a.'  I  wad  let  ony  body  do  the  like 
o't  to  me  for  a  pint  o'  brandy.  But  Willie's  lowland 
bred,  poor  fallow,  and  soon  frighted  for  himsell — And, 
for  the  worricows,  were  we  to  meet  ane   on   this  very 

bit " 

"  As  is  not  unlikely,"  said  young  Earnscliff,  "  for  there 
stands  your  old  witch,  Hobbie." 

"  I  say,"  continued  Elliot,  as  if  indignant  at  this  hint — 
"  I  say,  if  the  auld  carline  hersell  was  to  get  up  out  o'  the 
grund  just  before  us  here,  I  would  think  nae  mair — But, 
gude  preserve  us,  Earnscliff,  what  can  yon  be  ?  " 


32  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Brown  Dwarf,  that  o'er  the  moorland  strays, 

Thy  name  to  Keeldar  tell ! 
"  The  Brown  Man  of  the  Moor,  that  stays 

Beneath  the  heather-bell." 

John  Leyden. 

The  object  which  alarmed  the  young  farmer  in  the 
middle  of  his  valorous  protestations,  startled  for  a  moment 
even  his  less  prejudiced  companion.  The  moon,  which 
had  arisen  during  their  conversation,  was,  in  the  phrase 
of  that  country,  wading  or  struggling  with  clouds,  and 
shed  only  a  doubtful  and  occasional  light.  By  one  of 
her  beams,  which  streamed  upon  the  great  granite  column 
to  which  they  now  approached,  they  discovered  a  form, 
apparently  human,  but  of  a  size  much  less  than  ordinary, 
which  moved  slowly  among  the  large  grey  stones,  not 
like  a  person  intending  to  journey  onward,  but  with  the 
slow,  irregular,  flitting  movement  of  a  being  who  hovers 
around  some  spot  of  melancholy  recollection,  uttering 
also,  from  time  to  time,  a  sort  of  indistinct  muttering 
sound.  This  so  much  resembled  his  idea  of  the  motions 
of  an  apparition,  that  Hobbie  Elliot,  making  a  dead  pause, 
while  his  hair  erected  itself  upon  its  scalp,  whispered  to 
his  companion,  "  It's  Auld  Alie  hersell !  Shall  I  gie  her 
a  shot,  in  the  name  of  God  ?  " 

"  For  Heaven's  sake,  no,"  said  his  companion,  holding 
down  the  weapon  which   he  was   about  to  raise  to  the 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  33 

aim — "  for  Heaven's  sake,  no ;  it's  some  poor  distracted 
creature." 

"  Ye're  distracted  yoursell,  for  thinking  of  going  so 
near  to  her,"  said  EUiot,  holding  his  companion  in  his 
turn,  as  he  prepared  to  advance.  "  We'll  aye  hae  time 
to  pit  ower  a  bit  prayer  (an  I  could  but  mind  ane)  afore 
she  comes  this  length — God !  she's  in  nae  hurry,"  con- 
tinued he,  growing  bolder  from  his  companion's  con- 
fidence, and  the  little  notice  the  apparition  seemed  to 
take  of  them.  "  She  hirples  like  a  hen  on  a  het  girdle. 
I  redd  ye,  Earnscliff,"  (this  he  added  in  a  gentle  whisper,) 
"  let  us  take  a  cast  about,  as  if  to  draw  the  wind  on  a 
buck — ^the  bog  is  no  abune  knee-deep,  and  better  a  saft 
road  as  bad  company."  * 

Earnscliff,  however,  in  spite  of  his  companion's  resist- 
ance and  remonstrances,  continued  to  advance  on  the  path 
they  had  originally  pursued,  and  soon  confronted  the 
object  of  their  investigation. 

The  height  of  the  figure,  which  appeared  even  to  de- 
crease as  they  approached  it,  seemed  to  be  under  four 
feet,  and  its  form,  as  far  as  the  impei-fect  light  afforded 
them  the  means  of  discerning,  was  very  nearly  as  broad 
as  long,  or  rather  of  a  spherical  shape,  which  could  only 
be  occasioned  by  some  strange  personal  deformity.  The 
young  sportsman  hailed  this  extraordinary  appearance 
twice,  without  receiving  any  answer,  or  attending  to  the 
pinches  by  which  his  companion  endeavoured  to  inlimate 
that  their  best  course  was  to  walk  on,  without  giving 
farther  disturbance  to  a  being  of  such  singular  and  pre- 
ternatural exterior.     To  the  third  repeated  demand  of 

*  The  Scots  use  the  epithet  soft,  in  malam  partem,  in  two  cases  at 
least.  A  soft  road,  is  a  road  through  quagmire  and  bogs;  and  soft 
weather,  signifies  that  which  is  very  rainy. 

VOL.  XI.  3 


34  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  What  do  you  here  at  this  hour  of  night  ?  " 
— a  voice  rephed,  whose  shrill,  uncouth,  and  dissonant 
tones  made  Elliot  step  two  paces  back,  and  startled  even 
his  companion,  "  Pass  on  your  way,  and  ask  nought  at 
them  that  ask  nought  at  you." 

"  What  do  you  do  here  so  far  from  shelter  ?  Are  you 
benighted  on  your  joui'ney  ?  Will  you  follow  us  home, 
('  God  forbid  ! '  ejaculated  Hobble  Elliot,  involuntarily,) 
and  I  will  give  you  a  lodging  ?  " 

"  I  would  sooner  lodge  by  mysell  in  the  deepest  of  the 
Tarrasflow,"  again  whispered  Hobble. 

"  Pass  on  your  way,"  rejoined  the  figure,  the  harsh 
tones  of  his  voice  still  more  exalted  by  passion.  "  I  want 
not  your  guidance — I  want  not  your  lodging — it  is  five 
years  since  my  head  was  under  a  human  roof,  and  I  trust 
i^  was  for  the  last  time." 

"  He  is  mad,"  said  Earnscliff. 

"  He  has  a  look  of  auld  Humphrey  Ettercap,  the  tink- 
ler, that  perished  in  this  very  moss  about  five  years  syne," 
answered  his  superstitious  companion ;  "  but  Humphrey 
wasna  that  awfu'  big  in  the  bouk." 

"  Pass  on  your  way,"  reiterated  the  object  of  their 
curiosity,  "  the  breath  of  your  human  bodies  poisons  the 
air  around  me — the  sound  of  your  human  voices  goes 
through  my  ears  like  sharp  bodkins." 

"  Lord  save  us  ! "  whispered  Hobble,  "  that  the  dead 
should  bear  sic  fearfu'  ill-will  to  the  living ! — his  saul 
maun  be  in  a  puir  way,  I'm  jealous." 

"  Come,  my  friend,"  said  Earnscliff,  "  you  seem  to  suffer 
under  some  strong  affliction ;  common  humanity  will  not 
allow  us  to  leave  you  here." 

"  Common  humanity  ! "  exclaimed  the  being,  with  a 
scornful  laugh  that  sounded  Uke  a  shriek,  "  where  got  ye 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  35 

that  catchword — that  noose  for  woodcocks — that  common 
disguise  for  man-traps — that  bait  which  the  wretched  idiot 
who  swallows,  will  soon  find  covers  a  hook  with  barbs  ten 
times  sharper  than  those  you  lay  for  the  animals  which 
you  murder  for  your  luxury  !  " 

"  I  tell  you,  my  friend,"  again  replied  Eamscliff,  "  you 
are  incapable  of  judging  of  your  own  situation — you  will 
perish  in  this  wilderness,  and  we  must,  in  compassion, 
force  you  along  with  us." 

"  I'll  hae  neither  hand  nor  foot  in't,"  said  Hobbie ;  "  let 
the  ghaist  take  his  ain  way,  for  God's  sake  ! " 

"  My  blood  be  on  my  own  head,  if  I  perish  here,"  said 
the  figure ;  and  observing  Eai-nscliff  meditating  to  lay 
hold  on  him,  he  added,  "  And  your  blood  be  upon  yours, 
if  you  touch  but  the  skirt  of  my  garments,  to  infect  me 
with  the  taint  of  mortality  ! " 

The  moon  shone  more  brightly  as  he  spoke  thus,  and 
Earnscliff  observed  that  he  held  out  his  right  hand  armed 
with  some  weapon  of  offence,  which  glittered  in  the  cold 
ray  like  the  blade  of  a  long  knife,  or  the  barrel  of  a  pistol. 
It  would  have  been  madness  to  persevere  in  his  attempt 
upon  a  being  thus  armed,  and  holding  such  desperate  lan- 
guage, especially  as  it  was  plain  he  would  have  little  aid 
from  his  companion,  who  had  fairly  left  him  to  settle  mat- 
ters with  the  apparition  as  he  could,  and  had  proceeded 
a  few  paces  on  his  way  homeward.  Earnscliff,  therefore, 
turned  and  followed  Hobbie,  after  looking  back  towards 
the  supposed  maniac,  who,  as  if  raised  to  frenzy  by  the 
interview,  roamed  wildly  around  the  great  stone,  exhaust- 
ing his  voice  in  shrieks  and  imprecations,  that  thrilled 
wildly  along  the  waste  heath. 

The  two  sportsmen  moved  on  some  time  in  silence, 
until  they  were  out  of  hearing  of  these  uncouth  sounds, 


-36  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

which  was  not  ere  they  had  gained  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  pillar  that  gave  name  to  the  moor.  Each  made 
his  private  comments  on  the  scene  they  had  witnessed, 
until  Hobbie  Elliot  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  Weel,  I'll  up- 
haud  that  yon  ghaist,  if  it  be  a  ghaist,  has  baith  done  and 
suffered  muckle  evil  in  the  flesh,  that  gars  him  rampauge 
in  that  way  after  he  is  dead  and  gane." 

"  It  seems  to  me  the  very  madness  of  misanthropy," 
said  Earnscliff,  following  his  own  current  of  thought. 

"  And  ye  didna  think  it  was  a  spiritual  creature,  then  ?  " 
asked  Hobbie  at  his  companion. 

«  Who,  I  ?— No,  surely." 

"  Weel,  I  am  partly  of  the  mind  myseU  that  it  may  be 
a  live  thing — and  yet  I  dinna  ken,  I  wadna  wish  to  see 
ony  thing  look  liker  a  bogle." 

"  At  any  rate,"  said  Earnscliff,  "  I  will  ride  over  to- 
morrow, and  see  what  has  become  of  the  unhappy  being." 

"  In  fair  daylight  ?  "  queried  the  yeoman  ;  "  then,  grace 
o'  God,  I'se  be  wi'  ye.  But  here  we  are  nearer  to  Heugh- 
foot  than  to  your  house  by  twa  mile, — hadna  ye  better 
e'en  gae  hame  wi'  me,  and  we'll  send  the  callant  on  the 
powny  to  tell  them  that  you  are  wi'  us,  though  I  believe 
there's  naebody  at  hame  to  wait  for  you  but  the  servants 
and  the  cat." 

"  Have  with  you  then,  friend  Hobbie,"  said  the  young 
hunter ;  "  and  as  I  would  not  willingly  have  either  the 
servants  be  anxious,  or  puss  forfeit  her  supper,  in  my 
absence,  I'll  be  obliged  to  you  to  send  the  boy  as  you 
propose." 

"  Aweel,  that  is  kind,  I  must  say.  And  ye'U  gae  hame 
to  Heugh-foot  ?  They'll  be  right  blithe  to  see  you,  that 
will  they." 

This  affair  settled,  they  walked  briskly  on  a  little  far- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  37 

ther,  when,  coming  to  the  ridge  of  a  pretty  steep  hill, 
Hobbie  Elliot  exclaimed,  "Now,  Eamscliff,  I  am  aye 
glad  when  I  come  to  this  very  bit — ^Ye  see  the  light  be- 
low, that's  in  the  ha'  window,  where  grannie,  the  gash 
auld  carline,  is  sitting  birling  at  her  wheel — and  ye  see 
yon  other  light  that's  gaun  whiddin'  back  and  forrit 
through  amang  the  windows  ?  that's  my  cousin,  Grace 
Armstrong, — she's  twice  as  clever  about  the  house  as  my 
sisters,  and  sae  they  say  themsells,  for  they're  good-natured 
lasses  as  ever  trode  on  heather ;  but  they  confess  themsells, 
and  sae  does  grannie,  that  she  has  far  maist  action,  and  is 
the  best  goer  about  the  toun,  now  that  grannie  is  off  the 
foot  hersell. — My  brothers,  ane  o'  them's  away  to  wait 
upon  the  chamberlain,  and  ane's  at  Moss-phadraig,  that's 
our  led  farm — he  can  see  after  the  stock  just  as  weel  as  I 
can  do." 

"  You  are  lucky,  my  good  friend,  in  having  so  many 
valuable  relations." 

"  Troth  am  I — Grace  make  me  thankful,  I'se  never 
deny  it. — But  will  ye  tell  me  now,  Earnscliff,  you  that 
have  been  at  college,  and  the  high-school  of  Edinburgh, 
and  got  a'  sort  o'  lair  where  it  was  to  be  best  gotten — will 
ye  tell  me — no  that  it's  ony  concern  of  mine  in  particular, 
— but  I  heard  the  priest  of  St.  John's,  and  our  minister, 
bargaining  about  it  at  the  Winter  fair,  and  troth  they 
baith  spak  very  weel — Now,  the  priest  says  it's  unlawful 
to  marry  ane's  cousin ;  but  I  cannot  say  I  thought  he 
brought  out  the  Gospel  authorities  half  sae  weel  as  our 
minister — our  minister  is  thought  the  best  divine  and  the 
best  preacher  atween  this  and  Edinburgh — Dinna  ye 
think  he  was  likely  to  be  right  ?  " 

"  Certainly  marriage,  by  all  protestant  Christians,  is 
held  to  be  as  free  as  God  made  it  by  the  Levitical  law ; 


38  WAVERLET   NOYELS. 

SO,  Hobbie,  there  can  be  no  bar,  legal  or  religious,  betwixt 
you  and  Miss  Armstrong." 

"  Hout  awa'  wi'  your  joking,  EarnsclifF,"  replied  his 
companion, — "  ye  are  angry  eneugh  yoursell  if  ane 
touches  you  a  bit,  man,  on  the  sooth  side  of  the  jest — 
No  that  I  was  asking  the  question  about  Grace,  for  ye 
maun  ken  she's  no  my  cousin-germain  out  and  out,  but 
the  daughter  of  my  uncle's  wife  by  her  first  marriage,  so 
she's  nae  kith  nor  kin  to  me — only  a  connexion  like.  But 
now  we're  at  the  Sheeling-hill — I'U  fire  off  my  gun,  to 
let  them  ken  I'm  coming,  that's  aye  my  way ;  and  if  I 
hae  a  deer  I  gie  them  twa  shots,  ane  for  the  deer  and 
ane  for  mysell." 

He  fired  off  his  piece  accordingly,  and  the  number  of 
lights  were  seen  to  traverse  the  house,  and  even  to  gleam 
before  it.  Hobbie  Elliot  pointed  out  one  of  these  to 
Earnscliff,  which  seemed  to  glide  from  the  house  towards 
some  of  the  out-houses — "  That's  Grace  hersell,"  said 
Hobbie.  "  She'll  no  meet  me  at  the  door,  I'se  warrant 
her — but  she'll  be  awa',  for  a'  that,  to  see  if  my  hounds' 
supper  be  ready,  poor  beasts." 

"  Love  me,  love  my  dog,"  answered  EarnscliflP.  "  Ah, 
Hobbie,  you  are  a  lucky  young  fellow ! " 

This  observation  was  uttered  with  something  like  a 
sigh,  which  apparently  did  not  escape  the  ear  of  his 
companion. 

"  Hout,  other  folk  may  be  as  lucky  as  I  am — 0  how 
I  have  seen  Miss  Isabel. Vere's  head  turn  after  somebody 
when  they  passed  ane  another  at  the  Carlisle  races ! 
Wha  kens  but  things  may  come  round  in  this  world  ?  " 

EarnsclifF  muttered  something  like  an  answer;  but 
whether  in  assent  to  the  proposition,  or  rebuking  the 
application  of  it,  could  not  easily  be  discovered ;  and  it 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  39 

seems  probable  that  the  speaker  himself  was  willing  his 
meaning  should  rest  in  doubt  and  obscurity.  They  had 
now  descended  the  broad  loaning,  which,  winding  round 
the  foot  of  the  steep  bank,  or  heugh,  brought  them  in 
front  of  the  thatched,  but  comfortable,  farm-house,  which 
was  the  dwelling  of  Hobbie  Elliot  and  his  family. 

The  doorway  was  thronged  with  joyful  faces ;  but  the 
appearance  of  a  stranger  blunted  many  a  gibe  which  had 
been  prepared  on  Hobble's  lack  of  success  in  the  deer- 
stalking. There  was  a  little  bustle  among  three  handsome 
young  women,  each  endeavouring  to  devolve  upon  another 
the  task  of  ushering  the  stranger  into  the  apartment, 
while  probably  all  were  anxious  to  escape  for  the  purpose 
of  making  some  little  personal  arrangements,  before  pre- 
senting themselves  to  a  young  gentleman  in  a  dishabiUe 
only  intended  for  their  brother. 

Hobbie,  in  the  meanwhile,  bestowing  some  hearty  and 
general  abuse  upon  them  all,  (for  Grace  was  not  of  the 
party,)  snatched  the  candle  from  the  hand  of  one  of  the 
rustic  coquettes,  as  she  stood  playing  pretty  with  it  in 
her  hand,  and  ushered  his  guest  into  the  family  parlour, 
or  rather  hall;  for  the  place  having  been  a  house  of 
defence  in  former  times,  the  sitting  apartment  was  a 
vaulted  and  paved  room,  damp  and  dismal  enough  com- 
pared with  the  lodgings  of  the  yeomanry  of  our  days, 
but  which,  when  well  lighted  up  with  a  large  sparkling 
fire  of  turf  and  bog-wood,  seemed  to  Earnscliff  a  most 
comfortable  exchange  for  the  darkness  and  bleak  blast  of 
the  hill.  Kindly  and  repeatedly  was  he  welcomed  by  the 
venerable  old  dame,  the  mistress  of  the  family,  who, 
dressed  in  her  coif  and  pinners,  her  close  and  decent 
gown  of  home-spun  wool,  but  with  a  large  gold  necklace 
and  ear-rings,  looked,  what  she  really  was,  the  lady  as 


40  "WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

well  as  the  farmer's  wife,  while,  seated  in  her  chair  of 
wicker,  by  the  corner  of  the  great  chimney,  she  directed 
the  evening  occupations  of  the  young  women,  and  of  two 
or  three  stout  serving-wenches,  who  sate  plying  their 
distaffs  behind  the  backs  of  their  young  mistresses. 

As  soon  as  EarnsclifF  had  been  duly  welcomed,  and 
hasty  orders  issued  for  some  addition  to  the  evening  meal, 
his  grand-dame  and  sisters  opened  their  battery  upon 
Hobbie  Elliot  for  his  lack  of  success  against  the  deer. 

"  Jenny  neethia  have  kept  up  her  kitchen-tire  for  a' 
that  Hobbie  has  brought  hame,"  said  one  sister. 

"  Troth  no,  lass,"  said  another ;  "  the  gathering  peat,* 
if  it  was  weel  blawn,  wad  dress  a'  our  Hobble's  venison." 

"  Ay,  or  the  low  of  the  candle,  if  the  wind  wad  let  it 
bide  steady,"  said  a  third ;  "  if  I  were  him  I  would  bi'ing 
hame  a  black  craw,  rather  than  come  back  three  times 
without  a  buck's  horn  to  blaw  on." 

Hobbie  turned  from  the  one  to  the  other,  regarding 
them  alternately  with  a  frown  on  his  brow,  the  augury 
of  which  was  confuted  by  the  good-humoured  laugh  on 
the  lower  part  of  his  countenance.  He  then  strove  to 
propitiate  them,  by  mentioning  the  intended  present  of 
his  companion. 

"  In  my  young  days,"  said  the  old  lady,  "  a  man  wad 
hae  been  ashamed  to  come  back  frae  the  hill  without  a 
buck  hanging  on  each  side  o'  his  horse,  like  a  cadger 
carrying  calves." 

"  I  wish  they  had  left  some  for  us  then,  grannie," 
retorted  Hobbie  ;  "  they've  cleared  the  country  o'  them, 
thae  auld  friends  o'  yours,  I'm  thinking." 

*  The  gathering  peat  is  the  piece  of  tui'f  left  to  treasure  up  the 
secret  seeds  of  fire,  without  any  generous  consumption  of  fuel ;  in  a 
word,  to  keep  the  fire  alive. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  41 

"  Ye  see  other  folk  can  find  game,  though  you  cannot, 
Hobbie  ; "  said  the  eldest  sister,  glancing  a  look  at  young 
Earnscliff. 

"  Weel,  weel,  woman,  hasna  every  dog  his  day,  begging 
EarnsclifF's  pardon  for  the  auld  saying — Mayna  I  hae  his 
luck,  and  he  mine,  another  time  ? — It's  a  braw  thing  for  a 
man  to  be  out  a'  day,  and  frighted — na,  I  winna  say  that 
neither — but  mistrysted  wi'  bogles  in  the  hame-coming, 
an'  then  to  hae  to  flyte  wi'  a  wheen  women  that  hae  been 
doing  naething  a'  the  live-lang  day,  but  whirling  a  bit 
stick,  wi'  a  thread  trailing  at  it,  or  boring  at  a  clout." 

"  Frighted  wi'  bogles ! "  exclaimed  the  females,  one 
and  all, — for  great  was  the  regard  then  paid,  and  perhaps 
still  paid,  in  these  glens,  to  all  such  fantasies. 

"  I  did  not  say  frighted,  now — I  only  said  mis-set  wi' 
the  thing — And  there  was  but  ae  bogle,  neither — Earns- 
clifF,  ye  saw  it  as  weel  as  I  did  ?  " 

And  he  proceeded,  without  very  much  exaggeration,  to 
detail,  in  his  own  way,  the  meeting  they  had  with  the 
mysterious  being  at  Mucklestane-Moor,  concluding,  he 
could  not  conjecture  what  on  earth  it  could  be,  "  unless  it 
was  either  the  Enemy  himsell,  or  some  of  the  auld  Peghts 
that  held  the  countiy  lang  syne." 

"  Auld  Peght !  "  exclaimed  the  grand-dame  ;  "  na, 
na — bless  thee  frae  scathe,  my  bairn,  it's  been  nae  Peght 
that — it's  been  the  Brown  Man  of  the  moors !  O  weary 
fa'  thae  evil  days  ! — what  can  evil  beings  be  coming  for 
to  distract  a  poor  country,  now  it's  peacefully  settled,  and 
living  in  love  and  law  ? — 0  weary  on  him !  he  ne'er 
brought  gude  to  these  lands  or  the  indwellers.  My  father 
aften  tauld  me  he  was  seen  in  the  year  o'  the  bloody  fight 
at  Marston-Moor,  and  then  again  in  Montrose's  troubles, 
and  again  before  the  rout  o'  Dunbar,  and  in  my  ain  time. 


42  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

he  was  seen  about  the  time  o'  Bothwell-Brigg,  and  they 
said  the  second-sighted  Laird  of  Benarbuck  had  a  com- 
muning wi'  him  some  time  afore  Argyle's  landing,  but 
that  I  cannot  speak  to  sae  preceesely — it  was  far  in  the 
west. — 0,  bairns,  he's  never  permitted  but  in  an  ill  time, 
sae  mind  ilka  ane  o'  ye  to  draw  to  Him  that  can  help  in 
the  day  of  ti'ouble." 

Earnscliff  now  interposed,  and  expressed  his  firm 
conviction  that  the  person  they  had  seen  was  some  poor 
maniac,  and  had  no  commission  from  the  invisible  world 
to  announce  either  war  or  evil.  But  his  opinion  found  a 
very  cold  audience,  and  all  joined  to  deprecate  his  pur- 
pose of  returning  to  the  spot  the  next  day. 

"  O,  my  bonny  baii'n,"  said  the  old  dame,  (for,  in  the 
kindness  of  her  heart,  she  extended  her  parental  style  to 
all  in  whom  she  was  interested) — "  You  should  beware 
mair  than  other  folk — there's  been  a  heavy  breach  made 
in  your  house  wi'  your  father's  bloodshed,  and  wi'  law- 
pleas,  and  losses  sinsyne ; — and  you  are  the  flower  of  the 
flock,  and  the  lad  that  will  build  up  the  auld  bigging 
again  (if  it  be  His  will)  to  be  an  honour  to  the  country, 
and  a  safeguard  to  those  that  dwell  in  it — you,  before 
others,  are  called  upon  to  put  yoursell  in  no  rash  adven- 
tures— for  yours  was  aye  ower  venturesome  a  race,  and 
muckle  harm  they  have  got  by  it." 

"But  I  am  sure,  my  good  friend,  you  would  not  have 
me  be  afraid  of  going  to  an  open  moor  in  broad  day- 
light ?  " 

"  I  dinna  ken,"  said  the  good  old  dame  ;  "  I  wad  never 
bid  son  or  friend  o'  mine  baud  their  hand  back  in  a  gude 
cause,  whether  it  were  a  friend's  or  their  ain — that  should 
be  by  nae  bidding  of  mine,  or  of  ony  body  that's  come  of 
a  gentle  kindred — But  it  winna  gang  out  of  a  grey  head 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  43 

like  mine,  that,  to  gang  to  seek  for  evil  that's  no  fashing 
wi'  you,  is  clean  against  law  and  Scripture." 

Earnscliff  resigned  an  argument  which  he  saw  no 
prospect  of  maintaining  with  good  effect,  and  the  entrance 
of  supper  broke  off  the  conversation.  Miss  Grace  had 
by  this  time  made  her  appearance,  and  Hobbie,  not  with- 
out a  conscious  glance  at  Earnschff,  placed  himself  by  her 
side.  Mirth  and  lively  conversation,  in  which  the  old 
lady  of  the  house  took  the  good-humoured  share  which 
so  well  becomes  old  age,  restored  to  the  cheeks  of  the 
damsels  the  roses  which  their  brother's  tale  of  the  appari- 
tion had  chased  away,  and  they  danced  and  sung  for  an 
hour  after  supper  as  if  there  were  no  such  things  as 
goblins  in  the  world. 


44  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

I  am  a  misanthropos,  and  hate  mankind; 
For  thy  part,  I  do  wish  thou  wert  a  dog, 
That  I  might  love  thee  something. 

TiMON  OP  Athens. 

On  the  following  morning,  after  breakfast,  Earnscliff 
took  leave  of  his  hospitable  friends,  promising  to  return 
in  time  to  partake  of  the  venison,  which  had  arrived  from 
his  house.  Hobble,  who  apparently  took  leave  of  him  at 
the  door  of  his  habitation,  slunk  out,  however,  and  joined 
him  at  the  top  of  the  hill. 

"  Ye'U  be  gaun  yonder,  Mr.  Patrick ;  feind  o'me  will 
mistryst  you  for  a'  my  mother  says.  I  thought  it  best  to 
slip  out  quietly  though,  in  case  she  should  mislippen 
something  of  what  we're  gaun  to  do — we  maunna  vex 
her  at  nae  rate — it  was  amaist  the  last  word  my  father 
said  to  me  on  his  deathbed." 

"By  no  means.  Hobble,"  said  Earnscliff;  "she  well 
merits  all  your  attention." 

"  Troth,  for  that  matter,  she  would  be  as  sair  vexed 
amaist  for  you  as  for  me.  But  d'ye  really  think  there's 
nae  presumption  in  venturing  back  yonder? — We  hae 
nae  special  commission,  ye  ken." 

"  If  I  thought  as  you  do,  Hobbie,"  said  the  young 
gentleman,  "I  Avould  not  perhaps  inquire  farther  into 
this  business ;  but  as  I  am  of  opinion  that  preternatural 
visitations  are  either  ceased  altogether,  or  become  very 


THE    BLACK    DWAKF.  45 

rare  in  our  days,  I  am  unwilling  to  leave  a  matter  unin- 
vestigated which  may  concern  the  life  of  a  poor  disti-acted 
being." 

"  Aweel,  aweel,  if  ye  really  think  that,"  answered 
Hobbie,  doubtfully — "  And  it's  for  certain  the  very  fairies 
— I  mean  the  very  good  neighbours  themsells  (for  they 
say  folk  suldna  ca'  them  fairies)  that  used  to  be  seen  on 
every  green  knowe  at  e'en,  are  no  half  sae  often  visible 
in  our  days.  I  canna  depone  to  having  ever  seen  ane 
mysell,  but  I  ance  heard  ane  whistle  ahint  me  in  the 
moss,  as  like  a  whaup  *  as  ae  thing  could  be  like  anither. 
And  mony  ane  my  father  saw  when  he  used  to  come 
hame  frae  the  fairs  at  e'en,  wi'  a  drap  drink  in  his  head, 
honest  man." 

EarnsclifF  was  somewhat  entertained  with  the  gradual 
declension  of  superstition  from  one  generation  to  another 
which  was  inferred  in  this  last  observation ;  and  they 
continued  to  reason  on  such  subjects,  until  they  came  in 
sight  of  the  upright  stone  which  gave  name  to  the  moor. 

"  As  I  shall  answer,"  says  Hobbie,  "  yonder's  the 
creature  creeping  about  yet ! — But  it's  day-hght,  and  you 
have  your  gun,  and  I  brought  out  my  bit  whinger — I 
think  we  may  venture  on  him." 

"  By  all  manner  of  means,"  said  Earnscliff;  "but,  in 
the  name  of  wonder,  what  can  he  be  doing  there  ?  " 

"  Bigging  a  dry-stane  dyke,  I  think,  wi'  the  grey  geese, 
as  they  ca'  thae  great  loose  stanes — Odd,  that  passes  a' 
thing  I  e'er  heard  tell  of ! " 

As  they  approached  nearer,  Earnscliff  could  not  help 

agreeing  with  his  companion.     The  figure  they  had  seen 

the  night  before  seemed  slowly  and  toilsomely  labouring 

to  pile  the  large  stones  one  upon  another,  as  if  to  form 

*  Curlew. 


46  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

a  small  enclosure.  Materials  lay  around  him  in  great 
plenty,  but  the  labour  of  carrying  on  the  work  was 
immense,  from  the  size  of  most  of  the  stones ;  and  it 
seemed  astonishing  that  he  should  have  succeeded  in 
moving  several  which  he  had  already  arranged  for  the 
foundation  of  his  edifice.  He  was  struggling  to  move  a 
fragment  of  great  size  when  the  two  young  men  came  up, 
and  was  so  intent  upon  executing  his  purpose,  that  he 
did  not  perceive  them  till  they  were  close  upon  him.  In 
straining  and  heaving  at  the  stone,  in  order  to  place  it 
according  to  his  wish,  he  displayed  a  degree  of  strength 
which  seemed  utterly  inconsistent  with  his  size  and 
apparent  deformity.  Indeed,  to  judge  from  the  difficulties 
he  had  already  surmounted,  he  must  have  been  of  Her- 
culean powers  ;  for  some  of  the  stones  he  had  succeeded 
in  raising  apparently  required  two  men's  strength  to  have 
moved  them.  Hobble's  suspicions  began  to  revive,  on 
seeing  the  preternatural  strength  he  exerted. 

"  I  am  amaist  persuaded  it's  the  ghaist  of  a  stane- 
mason — ^see  siccan  band-stanes  as  he's  laid  ! — An  it  be  a 
man,  after  a',  I  wonder  what  he  wad  take  by  the  rood  to 
build  a  march-dyke.  There's  ane  sair  wanted  between 
Ci'inglehope  and  the  Shaws. — Honest  man,"  (raising  his 
voice,)  "  ye  make  good  firm  wark  there." 

The  being  whom  he  addressed  raised  his  eyes  with  a 
ghastly  stare,  and,  getting  up  from  his  stooping  posture, 
stood  before  them  in  all  his  native  and  hideous  deformity. 
His  head  was  of  uncommon  size,  covered  with  a  fell  of 
shaggy  hair,  partly  grizzled  with  age ;  his  eyebrows, 
shaggy  and  prominent,  overhung  a  pair  of  small,  dark, 
piercing  eyes,  set  far  back  in  their  sockets,  that  rolled 
with  a  portentous  wildness,  indicative  of  a  partial  insanity. 
The  rest  of  his  features  were  of  the  coarse,  rough-hewn 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  47 

stamp,  with  which  a  painter  would  equip  a  giant  in 
romance ;  to  which  was  added  the  wild,  irregular,  and 
peculiar  expression,  so  often  seen  in  the  countenances  of 
those  whose  persons  are  deformed.  His  body,  thick  and 
square,  like  that  of  a  man  of  middle  size,  was  mounted 
upon  two  large  feet ;  but  nature  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
the  legs  and  the  thighs,  or  they  were  so  very  short  as  to 
be  hidden  by  the  dress  which  he  wore.  His  arms  were 
long  and  brawny,  furnished  with  two  muscular  hands, 
and,  where  uncovered  in  the  eagerness  of  his  labour, 
were  shagged  with  coarse  black  hair.  It  seemed  as  if 
nature  had  originally  intended  the  separate  parts  of  his 
body  to  be  the  members  of  a  giant,  but  had  afterwards 
capriciously  assigned  them  to  the  person  of  a  dwarf,  so 
ill  did  the  length  of  his  arms  and  the  iron  strength  of  his 
frame  correspond  with  the  shortness  of  his  stature.  His 
clothing  was  a  sort  of  coarse  brown  tunic,  like  a  monk's 
frock,  girt  round  him  with  a  belt  of  seal-skin.  On  his 
head  he  had  a  cap  made  of  badger's  skin,  or  some  other 
rough  fur,  which  added  considerably  to  the  grotesque 
effect  of  his  whole  appearance,  and  overshadowed  fea- 
tures, whose  habitual  expression  seemed  that  of  sullen 
malignant  misanthropy. 

This  remarkable  Dwarf  gazed  on  the  two  youths  in 
silence,  with  a  dogged  and  irritated  look,  until  Earns- 
cUff,  willing  to  soothe  him  into  better  temper,  ob- 
served, "  You  are  hard  tasked,  my  friend ;  allow  us  to 
assist  you." 

Elliot  and  he  accordingly  placed  the  stone,  by  their 
joint  efforts,  upon  the  rising  wall.  The  Dwarf  watched 
them  with  the  eye  of  a  taskmaster,  and  testified,  by 
peevish  gestures,  his  impatience  at  the  time  which  they 
took  in  adjusting  the  stone.     He  pointed  to  another — 


48  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

they  raised  it  also — to  a  third,  to  a  fourth — they  con- 
tinued to  humour  him,  though  with  some  trouble,  for  he 
assigned  them,  as  if  intentionally,  the  heaviest  fragments 
which  lay  near. 

"  And  now,  friend,"  said  Elliot,  as  the  unreasonable 
Dwarf  indicated  another  stone  larger  than  any  they  had 
moved,  "  Earnscliff  miay  do  as  he  likes ;  but  be  ye  man 
or  be  ye  waur,  deil  be  in  my  fingers  if  I  break  my  back 
wi'  heaving  thae  stanes  ony  langer  like  a  barrow-man, 
without  getting  sae  muckle  as  thanks  for  my  pains." 

"  Thanks  !  "  exclaimed  the  Dwarf,  with  a  motion  ex- 
pressive of  the  utmost  contempt — "  There — take  them, 
and  fatten  upon  them !  Take  them,  and  may  they 
tlmve  with  you  as  they  have  done  with  me — as  they  have 
done  with  every  mortal  worm  that  ever  heard  the  word 
spoken  by  his  fellow  reptile  !  Hence — either  labour  or 
begone !  " 

"  This  is  a  fine  reward  we  have,  Earnscliff",  for  building 
a  tabernacle  for  the  devil,  and  prejudicing  our  ain  souls 
into  the  bargain,  for  what  we  ken." 

"  Our.  pi-esence,"  answered  Earnscliff',  "  seems  only  to 
irritate  his  frenzy ;  we  had  better  leave  him,  and  send 
some  one  to  provide  him  with  food  and  necessaries." 

They  did  so.  The  servant  despatched  for  this  purpose 
found  the  Dwarf  still  labouring  at  his  wall,  but  could  not 
extract  a  word  from  him.  The  lad,  infected  with  the 
superstitions  of  the  country,  did  not  long  persist  in  an 
attempt  to  intrude  questions  or  advice  on  so  singular  a 
figure,  but  having  placed  the  articles  which  he  had  brought 
for  his  use  on  a  stone  at  some  distance,  he  left  them  at 
the  misanthrope's  disposal. 

The  Dwarf  proceeded  in  his  labours,  day  after  day, 
with  an  assiduity  so  incredible  as  to  appear  almost  super- 


THE    BLACK   DWARF.  49 

natural.  In  one  day  he  often  seemed  to  have  done  the 
work  of  two  men,  and  his  building  soon  assumed  the 
appearance  of  the  walls  of  a  hut,  which,  though  very 
small,  and  constructed  only  of  stones  and  turf,  without 
any  mortar,  exhibited,  from  the  unusual  size  of  the  stones 
employed,  an  appearance  of  solidity  very  uncommon  for 
a  cottage  of  such  narrow  dimensions  and  rude  construc- 
tion. Earnscliff,  attentive  to  his  motions,  no  sooner  per- 
ceived to  Avhat  they  tended,  than  he  sent  down  a  number 
of  spars  of  wood  suitable  for  forming  the  roof,  which  he 
caused  to  be  left  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  spot,  re- 
solving next  day  to  send  workmen  to  put  them  up.  But 
his  purpose  was  anticipated,  for  in  the  evening,  during 
the  night,  and  early  in  the  morning,  the  Dwarf  had 
laboured  so  hard,  and  with  such  ingenuity,  that  he  had 
nearly  completed  the  adjustment  of  the  rafters.  His  next 
labour  was  to  cut  rushes  and  thatch  his  dwelling,  a  task 
which  he  performed  with  singular  dexterity. 

As  he  seemed  averse  to  receive  any  aid  beyond  the 
occasional  assistance  of  a  passenger,  materials  suitable  to 
his  purpose,  and  tools,  were  supplied  to  him,  in  the  use 
of  which  he  proved  to  be  skilful.  He  constructed  the 
door  and  window  of  his  cot,  he  adjusted  a  rude  bedstead, 
and  a  few  shelves,  and  apjieared  to  become  somewhat 
soothed  in  his  temper  as  his  accommodations  increased. 

His  next  task  was  to  form  a  strong  enclosure,  and  to 
cultivate  the  land  within  it  to  the  best  of  his  power ; 
until,  by  transporting  mould,  and  working  up  what  was 
upon  the  spot,  he  formed  a  patch  of  garden-ground.  It 
must  be  naturally  supposed,  that,  as  above  hinted,  this 
solitary  being  received  assistance  occasionally  from  such 
travellers  as  crossed  the  moor  by  chance,  as  well  as  from 
several  who  went  from  curiosity  to  visit  his  works.     It 

VOL.  XI.  4 


50  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

was,  indeed,  impossible  to  see  a  human  creature,  so  unfit- 
ted, at  first  sight,  for  hard  labour,  toiling  with  such  unre- 
mitting assiduity,  without  stopping  a  few  minutes  to  aid 
him  in  his  task ;  and,  as  no  one  of  his  occasional  assist- 
ants was  acquainted  with  the  degree  of  help  which  the 
Dwarf  had  received  from  others,  the  celerity  of  his  pro- 
gress lost  none  of  its  marvels  in  their  eyes.  The  strong 
and  compact  appearance  of  the  cottage,  formed  in  so 
very  short  a  space,  and  by  such  a  being,  and  the  superior 
skill  which  he  displayed  in  mechanics,  and  in  other  arts, 
gave  suspicion  to  the  surrounding  neighbours.  They 
insisted,  that,  if  he  was  not  a  phantom, — an  opinion 
which  was  now  abandoned,  since  he  plainly  appeared  a 
being  of  blood  and  bone  with  themselves, — yet  he  must 
be  in  close  league  with  the  invisible  world,  and  have 
chosen  that  sequestered  spot  to  carry  on  his  communica- 
tion with  them  undisturbed.  They  insisted,  though  in  a 
difiereut  sense  from  the  philosopher's  application  of  the 
phrase,  that  he  was  never  less  alone  than  when  alone  ; 
and  that  from  the  heights  which  commanded  the  moor  at 
a  distance,  passengers  often  discovered  a  person  at  work 
along  with  this  dweller  of  the  desert,  who  regularly  dis- 
appeared as  soon  as  they  approached  closer  to  the  cottage. 
Such  a  figure  was  also  occasionally  seen  sitting  beside  him 
at  the  door,  walking  with  him  in  the  moor,  or  assisting 
him  in  fetching  water  from  his  fountain.  Earnscliff  ex- 
plained this  phenomenon  by  supposing  it  to  be  the  Dwarf's 
shadow. 

"  Deil  a  shadow  has  he,"  replied  Hobbie  Elliot,  who 
was  a  strenuous  defender  of  the  general  opinion  ;  "  he's 
ower  far  in  wi'  the  Auld  Ane  to  have  a  shadow.  Be- 
sides," he  argued,  more  logically,  "  Avha  ever  heard  of  a 
shadow  that  cam  between  a  body  and  the  sun  ?  and  this 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  51 

thing,  be  it  what  it  will,  is  thinner  and  taller  than  the 
body  himsell,  and  has  been  seen  to  come  betwee;i  him  and 
the  sun  mair  than  ance  or  twice  either." 

These  suspicions,  which,  in  any  other  part  of  the  coun- 
try, might  have  been  attended  with  investigations  a  little 
inconvenient  to  the  supposed  wizard,  were  here  only  pro- 
ductive of  respect  and  awe.  The  recluse  being  seemed 
somewhat  gratified  by  the  marks  of  timid  veneration 
with  which  an  occasional  passenger  approached  his  dwell- 
ing, the  look  of  startled  surprise  with  which  he  surveyed 
his  person  and  his  premises,  and  the  hurried  step  with 
which  he  pressed  his  retreat  as  he  passed  the  awful  spot. 
The  boldest  only  stopped  to  gratify  their  curiosity  by  a 
hasty  glance  at  the  walls  of  his  cottage  and  garden,  and 
to  apologize  for  it  by  a  courteous  salutation,  which  the 
inmate  sometimes  deigned  to  return  by  a  word  or  a  nod. 
Earnscliff  often  passed  that  way,  and  seldom  without  in- 
quiring after  the  solitary  inmate,  who  seemed  now  to  have 
arranged  his  establishment  for  life. 

It  was  impossible  to  engage  him  in  any  conversation 
on  his  own  personal  affairs  ;  nor  was  he  communicative 
or  accessible  in  talking  on  any  other  subject  whatever, 
although  he  seemed  to  have  considerably  relented  in  the 
extreme  ferocity  of  his  misanthropy,  or  rather  to  be  less 
frequently  visited  with  the  fits  of  derangement  of  which 
this  was  a  symptom.  No  argument  could  prevail  upon 
him  to  accept  anything  beyond  the  simplest  necessaries, 
although  much  more  was  offered  by  Earnscliff  out  of 
charity,  and  by  his  more  superstitious  neighbours  from 
other  motives.  The  benefits  of  these  last  he  repaid  by 
advice,  when  consulted  (as  at  length  he  slowly  was)  on 
their  diseases,  or  those  of  their  cattle.  He  often  fur- 
nished them  with  medicines  also,  and  seemed  possessed, 


52  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

not  only  of  such  as  were  the  produce  of  the  country,  but 
of  foreign  drugs.  He  gave  these  persons  to  understand, 
that  his  name  was  Elshender  the  Recluse ;  but  his  popu- 
lar epithet  soon  came  to  be  Canny  Elshie,  or  the  Wise 
Wight  of  Mucklestane-Moor.  Some  extended  their  que- 
ries beyond  their  bodily  complaints,  and  requested  advice 
upon  other  matters,  which  he  delivered  with  an  oracular 
shrewdness  that  greatly  confirmed  the  opinion  of  his  pos- 
sessing preternatural  skill.  The  querists  usually  left  some 
offering  upon  a  stone,  at  a  distance  from  his  dwelling ;  if 
it  was  money,  or  any  article  which  it  did  not  suit  him  to 
accept,  he  either  threw  it  away,  or  suffered  it  to  remain 
where  it  was  without  making  use  of  it.  On  all  occasions 
his  manners  were  rude  and  unsocial ;  and  his  words,  in 
number,  just  sufficient  to  express  his  meaning  as  briefly 
as  possible,  and  he  shunned  all  communication  that  went 
a  syllable  beyond  the  matter  in  hand.  When  winter  had 
passed  away,  and  his  garden  began  to  afford  him  herbs 
and  vegetables,  he  confined  himself  almost  entirely  to 
those  articles  of  food.  He  accepted,  notwithstanding,  a 
pair  of  she-goats  from  Earnscliff,  which  fed  on  the  moor, 
and  supplied  him  with  milk. 

When  Earnscliff  found  his  gift  had  been  received,  he 
soon  afterwards  paid  the  hermit  a  visit.  The  old  man 
was  seated  on  a  bi-oad  flat  stone  near  his  garden  door, 
which  was  the  seat  of  science  he  usually  occupied  when 
disposed  to  I'eceive  his  patients  or  clients.  The  inside  of 
his  hut,  and  that  of  his  garden,  he  kept  as  sacred  from 
human  intrusion  as  the  natives  of  Otaheite  do  their  Mo- 
ral ; — apparently  he  would  have  deemed  it  polluted  by 
the  step  of  any  human  being.  When  he  shut  himself  up 
in  his  habitation,  no  entreaty  could  prevail  upon  him  to 
make  himself  visible,  or  to  give  audience  to  any  one 
whomsoever. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  53 

Earnscliff  had  been  fishing  in  a  small  river  at  some 
distance.  He  had  his  rod  in  his  hand,  and  his  basket, 
filled  with  trout,  at  his  shoulder.  He  sate  down  upon  a 
stone  nearly  opposite  to  the  Dwarf,  who,  familiarized 
with  his  presence,  took  no  farther  notice  of  him  than  by 
elevating  his  huge  mis-shapen  head  for  the  purpose  of 
staring  at  him,  and  then  again  sinking  it  upon  his  bosora, 
as  if  in  profound  meditation.  Earnscliff  looked  around 
him,  and  observed  that  the  hermit  had  increased  his 
accommodations  by  the  construction  of  a  shed  for  the 
reception  of  his  goats. 

"  You  labour  hard,  Elshie,"  he  said,  willing  to  lead  this 
singular  being  into  conversation. 

"  Labour,"  re-echoed  the  Dwarf,  "  is  the  mildest  evil 
of  a  lot  so  miserable  as  that  of  mankind  ;  better  to  labour 
like  me,  than  sport  like  you." 

"  I  cannot  defend  the  humanity  of  our  ordinary  rural 
sports,  Elshie,  and  yet " 

"  And  yet,"  interrupted  the  Dwarf,  "  they  are  better 
than  your  ordinary  business  ;  better  to  exercise  idle  and 
wanton  cruelty  on  mute  fishes  than  on  your  fellow- 
creatures.  Yet  why  should  I  say  so  ?  Wliy  should  not 
the  whole  human  herd  butt,  gore,  and  gorge  upon  each 
other,  till  all  are  extirpated  but  one  huge  and  over-fed 
Behemoth,  and  he,  when  he  had  throttled  and  gnaAved 
the  bones  of  all  his  fellows — he,  when  his  prey  failed 
him,  to  be  roaring  whole  days  for  lack  of  food,  and,  finally, 
to  die,  inch  by  inch,  of  famine — it  were  a  consummation 
worthy  of  the  race  !  " 

"  Your  deeds  are  better,  Elshie,  than  your  words," 
answered  Earnscliff;  "you  labour  to  preserve  the  race 
whom  your  misanthropy  slanders." 

"  I  do  ;  but  why  ? — Hearken.     You  are  one  on  whom 


54  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

I  look  with  the  least  loathing,  and  I  care  not,  if,  con- 
trary to  my  wont,  I  waste  a  few  words  in  compassion  to 
your  infatuated  blindness.  If  I  cannot  send  disease  into 
families,  and  murrain  among  the  herds,  can  I  attain  the 
same  end  so  well  as  by  prolonging  the  lives  of  those  who 
can  serve  the  purpose  of  destruction  as  effectually  ? — If 
Alice  of  Bower  had  died  in  wintei*,  would  young  Ruthwin 
have  been  slain  for  her  love  the  last  spring? — Who 
thought  of  penning  their  cattle  beneath  the  tower  when 
the  Red  Reiver  of  Westburnflat  was  deemed  to  be  on 
his  death-bed  ? — My  draughts,  my  skill,  recovered  him. 
And,  now,  who  dare  leave  his  herd  upon  the  lea  without 
a  watch,  or  go  to  bed  without  unchaining  the  sleuth- 
hound  ?  " 

"  I  own,"  answered  Earnscliff,  "  you  did  little  good  to 
society  by  the  last  of  these  cures.  But,  to  balance  the 
evil,  there  is  my  friend  Hobbie,  honest  Hobbie  of  the 
Heugh-foot,  your  skill  relieved  him  last  winter  in  a  fever 
that  might  have  cost  him  his  life." 

"  Thus  think  the  children  of  clay  in  their  ignorance," 
said  the  Dwarf,  smiling  maliciously,  "  and  thus  they  speak 
in  their  folly.  Have  you  marked  the  young  cub  of  a 
wild  cat  that  has  been  domesticated,  how  sportive,  how 
playful,  how  gentle, — but  trust  him  with  your  game,  your 
lambs,  your  poultry,  his  inbred  ferocity  breaks  forth;  he 
gripes,  tears,  ravages,  and  devours." 

"  Such  is  the  animal's  instinct,"  answered  Earnscliff; 
"  but  what  has  that  to  do  with  Hobbie  ?  " 

"  It  is  his  emblem — it  is  his  picture,"  retorted  the 
Recluse.  "  He  is  at  present  tame,  quiet,  and  domesti- 
cated, for  lack  of  opportunity  to  exercise  his  inborn  pro- 
pensities ;  but  let  the  trumpet  of  war  sound — let  the 
young  bloodhound  snuff  blood,  he  will  be  as  ferocious  as 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  55 

the  wildest  of  his  Border  ancestors  that  ever  fired  a  help- 
less peasant's  abode.  Can  you  deny,  that  even  at  present 
he  often  urges  you  to  take  bloody  revenge  for  an  injury 
received  when  you  were  a  boy  ? — Earnscliff  started  ;  the 
Recluse  appeared  not  to  observe  his  surprise,  and  pro- 
ceeded— "  The  trumpet  will  blow,  the  young  bloodhound 
will  lap  blood,  and  I  will  laugh  and  say.  For  this  I  have 
preserved  thee!"  He  paused,  and  continued, — "Such 
are  my  cures  ; — their  object,  their  purpose,  perpetuating 
the  mass  of  misery,  and  playing  even  in  this  desert  my 
part  in  the  general  tragedy.  Were  you  on  your  sick-bed, 
I  might  in  compassion,  send  you  a  cup  of  poison." 

"  I  am  much  obhged  to  you,  Elshie,  and  certainly  shall 
not  fail  to  consult  you,  with  so  comfortable  a  hope  from 
your  assistance." 

"  Do  not  flatter  yourself  too  far,"  replied  the  Hermit, 
"  with  the  hope  that  I  wiH  positively  yield  to  the  frailty 
of  pity.  Why  should  I  snatch  a  dupe,  so  well  fitted  to 
endure  the  miseries  of  life  as  you  are,  from  the  wretch- 
edness which  his  own  visions,  and  the  villany  of  the 
world,  are  preparing  for  him  ?  Why  should  I  play  the 
compassionate  Indian,  and,  knocking  out  the  brains  of  the 
captive  with  my  tomahawk,  at  once  spoil  the  three  days' 
amusement  of  my  kindred  tribe,  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  brands  were  hghted,  the  pincers  heated,  the 
caldrons  boiling,  the  knives  sharpened,  to  tear,  scorch, 
seethe,  and  scarify  the  intended  victim  ?  " 

"  A  dreadful  picture  you  present  to  me  of  life,  Elshie ; 
but  I  am  not  daunted  by  it,"  returned  Earnscliff.  "  We 
are  sent  here,  in  one  sense,  to  bear  and  to  suffer ;  but,  in 
another,  to  do  and  to  enjoy.  The  active  day  has  its 
evening  of  repose ;  even  patient  sufferance  has  its  alle- 
viations, where  there  is  a  consolatory  sense  of  duty 
discharffed." 


56  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

"  I  spurn  at  the  slavish  and  bestial  doctrine,"  said  the 
Dwarf,  his  eyes  kindling  with  insane  fury, — "I  spurn  at 
it,  as  worthy  only  of  the  beasts  that  perish ;  but  I  will 
waste  no  more  words  with  you." 

He  rose  hastily ;  but,  ere  he  withdrew  into  the  hut,  he 
added,  with  great  vehemence,  "  Yet,  lest  you  still  think 
my  apparent  benefits  to  mankind  flow  from  the  stupid 
and  servile  source,  called  love  of  our  fellow-creatures, 
know,  that  were  there  a  man  who  had  annihilated  my 
soul's  dearest  hope — who  had  torn  my  heart  to  mammocks, 
and  seared  my  brain  till  it  glowed  like  a  volcano,  and 
were  that  man's  fortune  and  life  in  my  power  as  com- 
pletely as  this  frail  potsherd,"  (he  snatched  up  an  earthen 
cup  which  stood  beside  him,)  "  I  would  not  dash  him  into 
atoms  thus  " — (he  flung  the  vessel  with  fury  against  the 
wall,) — "  No  !  "  (he  spoke  more  composedly,  but  with  the 
utmost  bitterness,)  "  I  would  pamper  him  with  wealth 
and  power  to  inflame  his  evil  passions,  and  to  fulfil  his 
evil  designs ;  he  should  lack  no  means  of  vice  and 
villany;  he  should  be  the  centre  of  a  whirlpool  that  itself 
should  know  neither  rest  nor  peace,  but  boil  with  unceas- 
ing fury,  while  it  wrecked  every  goodly  ship  that  ap- 
proached its  limits !  he  should  be  an  earthquake  capable 
of  shaking  the  very  land  in  which  he  dwelt,  and  rendering 
all  its  inhabitants  friendless,  outcast,  and  miserable — as  I 
am  ! " 

The  wretched  being  rushed  into  his  hut  as  he  uttered 
these  last  words,  shutting  the  door  with  furious  violence, 
and  rapidly  drawing  two  bolts,  one  after  another,  as  if  to 
exclude  the  intrusion  of  any  one  of  that  hated  race,  who 
had  thus  lashed  his  soul  to  frenzy.  Earnscliff  left  the 
moor  with  mingled  sensations  of  pity  and  horror,  ponder- 
ing what  strange  and  melancholy  cause  could  have  re- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  57 

duced  to  so  miserable  a  state  of  mind,  a  man  whose 
lano-uage  argued  him  to  be  of  rank  and  education  much 
sCiperior  to  the  vulgar.  He  was  also  surprised  to  see  how 
much  particular  information  a  person  who  had  lived  in 
that  country  so  short  a  time,  and  in  so  recluse  a  manner, 
had  been  able  to  collect  respecting  the  dispositions  and 
private  affairs  of  the  inhabitants, 

"  It  is  no  wonder,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  that  with  such 
extent  of  information,  such  a  mode  of  life,  so  uncouth  a 
figure,  and  sentiments  so  virulently  misanthropic,  this 
unfortunate  should  be  regarded  by  the  vulgar  as  in  league 
with  the  Enemy  of  Mankind." 


58  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  bleakest  rock  upon  the  loneliest  heath 

Feels,  in  its  barrenness,  some  touch  of  spring; 

And,  in  the  April  dew,  or  beam  of  May, 

Its  moss  and  lichen  freshen  and  revive ; 

And  thus  the  heart,  most  seared  to  human  pleasure, 

Melts  at  the  tear,  joys  in  the  smile,  of  woman. 

Beaumont. 

As  the  season  advanced,  the  weather  became  more 
genial,  and  the  Recluse  was  more  frequently  found  occu- 
pying the  broad  flat  stone  in  the  front  of  his  mansion. 
As  he  sate  there  one  day,  about  the  hour  of  noon,  a  party 
of  gentlemen  and  ladies,  well  mounted,  and  numerously 
attended,  swept  across  the  heath,  at  some  distance  from 
his  dwelling.  Dogs,  hawks,  and  led-horses,  swelled  the 
retinue,  and  the  air  resounded  at  intervals  with  the  cheer 
of  the  hunters,  and  the  sound  of  horns  blown  by  the 
attendants.  The  Recluse  was  about  to  retire  into  his 
mansion  at  the  sight  of  a  train  so  joyous,  when  three 
young  ladies,  with  their  attendants,  who  had  made  a 
circuit,  and  detached  themselves  from  their  party,  in 
order  to  gratify  their  curiosity  by  a  sight  of  the  Wise 
"Wight  of  Mucklestane-Moor,  came  suddenly  up,  ere  he 
could  effect  his  purpose.  The  first  shrieked,  and  put  her 
hands  before  her  eyes,  at  sight  of  an  object  so  unusually 
deformed.  The  second,  with  a  hysterical  giggle,  which 
she    intended   should    disguise    her    terrors,   asked    the 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  59 

Recluse,  whether  he  could  tell  their  fortune.  The  third, 
who  was  best  mounted,  best  dressed,  and  incomparubly 
the  best-looking  of  the  three,  advanced,  as  if  to  cover  the 
incivility  of  her  companions. 

"  We  have  lost  the  right  path  that  leads  through  these 
morasses,  and  our  party  have  gone  forward  without  us," 
said  the  young  lady.  "  Seeing  you,  father,  at  the  door  of 
your  house,  we  have  turned  this  way  to  " 

"Hush!"  interrupted  the  Dwarf;  "so  young,  and 
already  so  artful  ?  You  came — you  know  you  came,  to 
exult  in  the  consciousness  of  your  own  youth,  wealth,  and 
beauty,  by  contrasting  them  with  age,  poverty,  and  de- 
formity. It  is  a  fit  employment  for  the  daughter  of 
your  father ;  but  oh,  how  unlike  the  child  of  your 
mother ! " 

"  Did  you,  then,  know  my  parents,  and  do  you  know 
me?" 

"  Yes ;  this  is  the  first  time  you  have  crossed  my  wak- 
ing eyes,  but  I  have  seen  you  in  my  dreams." 

"  Your  dreams  !  " 

"  Ay,  Isabel  Vere.  What  hast  thou,  or  thine,  to  do 
with  my  waking  thoughts  ?  " 

"  Your  waking  thoughts,  sir,"  said  the  second  of  Miss 
Yere's  companions,  with  a  sort  of  mock  gravity,  "are 
fixed  doubtless,  upon  wisdom ;  folly  can  only  intrude  on 
your  sleeping  moments." 

"  Over  thine,"  retorted  the  Dwarf,  more  splenetically 
than  became  a  philosopher  or  hermit,  "  folly  exercises  an 
unlimited  empire,  asleep  or  awake." 

"  Lord  bless  us  !  "  said  the  lady,  "  he's  a  prophet  sure 
enough." 

"  As  surely,"  continued  the  Recluse,  "  as  thou  art  a 
woman.     A  woman  ! — I  should  have  said  a  lady — a  fine 


60  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

lady.  You  asked  me  to  tell  your  fortune — it  is  a  simple 
one ;  an  endless  chase  through  life  after  follies  not  worth 
catching,  and,  when  caught,  successively  thrown  away — a 
chase,  pursued  from  the  days  of  tottering  infancy  to  those 
of  old  age  upon  his  crutches.  Toys  and  merry-makings 
in  childhood — love  and  its  absurdities  in  youth — spadille 
and  basto  in  age,  shall  succeed  each  other  as  objects  of 
pursuit — flowers  and  butterflies  in  spring — butterflies  and 
thistle-down  in  summer — withered  leaves  in  autumn  and 
winter — all  pursued,  all  caught,  all  flung  aside. — Stand 
apart ;  your  fortune  is  said." 

"  All  caught,  however,"  retorted  the  laughing  fair 
one,  who  was  a  cousin  of  Miss  Vere's ;  "  that's  some- 
thing, Nancy,"  she  continued,  turning  to  the  timid  damsel 
who  had  fu'st  approached  the  Dwarf;  "  will  you  ask  your 
fortune  ?  " 

"  Not  for  worlds,"  said  she,  drawing  back ;  "  I  have 
heard  enough  of  yours." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Miss  Ilderton,  offering  money  to  the 
Dwarf,  "  I'll  pay  for  mine,  as  if  it  were  spoken  by  an 
oracle  to  a  princess." 

"  Truth,"  said  the  soothsayer,  "  can  neither  be  bought 
nor  sold ; "  and  he  pushed  back  her  proffered  offering 
•with  morose  disdain. 

"  Well,  then,"  said  the  lady,  "  I'll  keep  my  money, 
Mr.  Elshender,  to  assist  me  in  the  chase  I  am  to 
pursue." 

"  You  will  need  it,"  replied  the  cynic  ;  "  without  it,  few 
pursue  successfully,  and  fewer  are  themselves  pursued. 
Stop ! "  he  said  to  Miss  Vere,  as  her  companions  moved 
off,  "  with  you  I  have  more  to  say.  You  have  what  your 
companions  would  wish  to  have,  or  be  thought  to  have — 
beauty,  wealth,  station,  accomplishments." 


THE    BLACK    DWAKF.  61 

"  Forgive  my  following  my  companions,  father  ;  I  am 
proof  both  to  flattery  and  fortune-telling." 

"  Stay,"  continned  the  Dwarf,  with  his  hand  on  her 
horse's  rein,  "I  am  no  common  soothsayer,  and  I  am  no 
flatterer.  All  the  advantages  I  have  detailed,  all  and 
each  of  them  have  their  cori'esponding  evils — unsuccess- 
ful love,  crossed  affections,  the  gloom  of  a  convent,  or  an 
odious  alliance.  I,  who  wish  ill  to  all  mankind,  cannot 
wish  more  evil  to  you,  so  much  is  your  course  of  life 
crossed  by  it." 

"  And  if  it  be,  fother,  let  me  enjoy  the  readiest  solace 
of  adversity,  while  prosperity  is  in  my  power.  You  are 
old;  you  are  poor;  your  habitation  is  far  from  human 
aid,  were  you  ill,  or  in  want ;  your  situation,  in  many 
respects,  exposes  you  to  the  suspicions  of  the  vulgar, 
which  are  too  apt  to  break  out  into  actions  of  brutality. 
Let  me  think  I  have  mended  the  lot  of  one  human  being ! 
Accept  of  such  assistance  as  I  have  power  to  offer ;  do 
this  for  my  sake,  if  not  for  your  jown,  that  when  these 
evils  arise,  which  you  prophesy  perhaps  too  truly,  I  may 
not  have  to  reflect  that  the  hours  of  my  happier  time 
have  been  passed  altogether  in  vain." 

The  old  man  answered  with  a  broken  voice,  and  almost 
without  addressing  himself  to  the  young  lady, — 

"  Yes,  'tis  thus  thou  shouldst  think — 'tis  thus  thou 
shouldst  speak,  if  ever  human  speech  and  thought  kept 
touch  with  each  other !  They  do  not — they  do  not — 
Alas  !  they  cannot.  And  yet — wait  here  an  instant — stir 
not  till  my  retui-n."  He  went  to  his  little  garden,  and 
returned  with  a  half-blown  rose.  "  Thou  hast  made  me 
shed  a  tear,  the  first  which  has  wet  my  eyelids  for  many 
a  year  ;  for  that  good  deed  receive  this  token  of  gratitude. 
It  is  but  a  common  rose  ;  preserve  it,  however,  and  do  not 


62  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

pai't  with  it.  Come  to  me  in  your  hour  of  adversity. 
Show  me  that  rose,  or  but  one  leaf  of  it,  were  it  withered 
as  my  heart  is — if  it  should  be  in  my  fiercest  and  wildest 
movements  of  rage  against  a  hateful  world,  still  it  will 
recall  gentler  thoughts  to  my  bosom,  and  perhaps  afford 
happier  prospects  to  thine.  But  no  message,"  he  ex- 
claimed, rising  into  his  usual  mood  of  misanthropy, — 
"  no  go-between !  Come  thyself ;  and  the  heart  and  the 
doors  that  are  shut  against  every  other  earthly  being,  shall 
open  to  thee  and  to  thy  sorrows.     And  now  pass  on." 

He  let  go  the  bridle-i*ein,  and  the  young  lady  rode  on, 
after  expressing  her  thanks  to  this  singular  being,  as  well 
as  her  surprise  at  the  extraordinary  nature  of  his  address 
would  permit,  often  turning  back  to  look  at  the  Dwarf, 
who  still  remained  at  the  door  of  his  habitation,  and 
watched  her  progress  over  the  moor  towards  her  father's 
castle  of  Ellieslaw,  until  the  brow  of  the  hill  hid  the  party 
from  his  sight. 

The  ladies,  meantime,  jested  with  Miss  Yere  on  the 
strange  interview  they  had  just  had  with  the  far-famed 
"Wizard  of  the  Moor.  "  Isabella  has  all  the  luck  at  home 
and  abroad !  Her  hawk  strikes  down  the  black-cock ; 
her  eyes  wound  the  gallant ;  no  chance  for  her  poor  com- 
panions and  kinswomen  ;  even  the  conjuror  cannot  escape 
the  force  of  her  charms.  You  should,  in  compassion, 
cease  to  be  such  an  engrosser,  my  dear  Isabel,  or  at  least 
set  up  shop,  and  sell  off  all  the  goods  you  do  not  mean  to 
keep  for  your  own  use." 

"  You  shall  have  them  all,"  replied  Miss  Vere,  "  and 
the  conjuror  to  boot,  at  a  very  easy  rate." 

"  No  !  Nancy  shall  have  the  conjuror,"  said  Miss  Ilder- 
ton,  "  to  supply  deficiencies ;  she's  not  quite  a  witch  her- 
self, you  know." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  63 

"  Lord,  sister,"  answered  the  younger  Miss  Ilderton, 
"  what  could  I  do  with  so  frightful  a  monster !  I  kept  my 
eyes  shut,  after  once  glancing  at  him  ;  and,  I  protest,  I 
thought  I  saw  him  still,  though  I  winked  as  close  as  ever 
I  could." 

"  That's  a  pity,"  said  her  sister ;  "  ever  while  you  live, 
Nancy,  choose  an  admirer  whose  faults  can  be  hid  by 
winking  at  them.  Well,  then,  I  must  take  him  myself,  I 
suppose,  and  put  him  into  mamma's  Japan  cabinet,  in 
order  to  show  that  Scotland  can  produce  a  specimen  of 
mortal  clay  moulded  into  a  form  ten  thousand  times  uglier 
than  the  imaginations  of  Canton  and  Pekin,  fertile  as 
they  are  in  monsters,  have  immortalized  in  porcelain." 

"  There  is  something,"  said  Miss  Vere,  "  so  melancholy 
in  the  situation  of  this  poor  man,  that  I  cannot  enter  into 
your  mirth,  Lucy,  so  readily  as  usual.  If  he  has  no 
resources,  how  is  he  to  exist  in  this  waste  country,  living, 
as  he  does,  at  such  a  distance  from  mankind  ?  and  if  he 
has  the  means  of  securing  occasional  assistance,  will  not 
the  very  suspicion  that  he  is  possessed  of  them,  expose 
him  to  plunder  and  assassination  by  some  of  our  unsettled 
neighbours  ?  " 

"  But  you  forget  that  they  say  he  is  a  warlock,"  said 
Nancy  Ilderton. 

"  And,  if  his  magic  diabolical  should  fail  him,"  rejoined 
her  sister,  "  I  would  have  him  trust  to  his  magic  natural, 
and  thrust  his  enormous  head,  and  most  preternatural 
visage,  out  at  his  door  or  window,  full  in  view  of  the 
assailants.  The  boldest  robber  that  ever  rode  would 
hardly  bide  a  second  glance  of  him.  Well,  I  wish  I  had 
the  use  of  that  Gorgon  head  of  his  for  only  one  half  hour." 

"  For  what  purpose,  Lucy  ?  "  said  Miss  Vere. 

"  O  !  I  would  frighten  out  of  the  castle  that  dark,  stiff, 


64  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

and  stately  Sir  Frederick  Langley,  that  is  so  great  a 
favourite  with  your  father,  and  so  little  a  favourite  of 
yours.  I  protest  I  shall  be  obliged  to  the  Wizard  as  long 
as  I  live,  if  it  were  only  for  the  half  houi*'s  relief  from 
that  man's  company  which  we  have  gained  by  deviating 
from  the  party  to  visit  Elshie." 

"  What  would  you  say  then,"  said  Miss  Vere,  in  a  low 
tone,  so  as  not  to  be  heard  by  the  younger  sister,  who 
rode  before  them,  the  narrow  path  not  admitting  of  their 
moving  all  three  abreast — "  What  would  you  say,  my 
dearest  Lucy,  if  it  were  proposed  to  you  to  endure  his 
company  for  life  ?  " 

"  Say  ?  I  would  say,  No,  no,  no,  three  times,  each 
louder  than  another,  till  they  should  hear  me  at  Carlisle." 

"  And  Sir  Frederick  would  say  then,  nineteen  nay-says 
are  half  a  grant." 

"  That,"  replied  Miss  Lucy,  "  depends  entirely  on  the 
manner  in  which  the  nay-says  are  said.  Mine  should 
have  not  one  grain  of  concession  in  them,  I   promise 

you." 

"  But  if  your  father,"  said  Miss  Vere,  "  were  to  say, — 
Thus  do,  or " 

"  I  would  stand  to  the  consequences  of  his  or,  were  he 
the  most  cruel  father  that  ever  was  I'ecorded  in  romance, 
to  fill  up  the  alternative." 

"  And  what  if  he  threatened  you  with  a  Catholic  aunt, 
an  abbess,  and  a  cloister  ?  " 

"  Then,"  said  Miss  Ilderton,  "  I  would  threaten  him  with 
a  protestant  son-in-law,  and  be  glad  of  an  opportunity  to 
disobey  him  for  conscience'  sake.  And  now  that  Nancy 
is  out  of  hearing,  let  rae  really  say,  I  think  you  would  be 
excusable  before  God  and  man  for  resisting  this  prepos- 
terous match  by  every  means  in  your  power.     A  proud, 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  65 

dark,  ambitious  man  ;  a  caballer  against  the  state  ;  infa- 
mous for  his  avarice  and  severity;  a  bad  son,  a  bad 
brother,  unkind  and  ungenerous  to  all  his  relatives — 
Isabel,  I  would  die  rather  than  have  him." 

"  Don't  let  my  father  hear  you  give  me  such  advice," 
said  Miss  Vere,  "  or  adieu,  my  dear  Lucy,  to  Ellieslaw 
Castle." 

"  And  adieu  to  Ellieslaw  Castle,  with  all  my  heart," 
said  her  friend,  "  if  I  once  saw  you  fairly  out  of  it,  and 
settled  under  some  kinder  protector  than  he  whom  nature 
has  given  you.  O,  if  my  poor  father  had  been  in  his 
former  health,  how  gladly  would  he  have  received  and 
sheltered  you,  till  this  ridiculous  and  cruel  persecution 
were  blown  over  !  " 

"  Would  to  God  it  had  been  so,  my  dear  Lucy  !  "  an- 
swered Isabella ;  "  but  I  fear,  that,  in  your  father's  weak 
state  of  health,  he  would  be  altogether  unable  to  protect 
me  against  the  means  which  would  be  immediately  used 
for  reclaiming  the  poor  fugitive." 

"  I  fear  so,  indeed,"  rephed  Miss  Ilderton  ;  "  but  we 
will  consider  and  devise  something.  Now  that  your 
father  and  his  guests  seem  so  deeply  engaged  in  some 
mysterious  plot,  to  judge  from  the  passing  and  returning 
of  messages,  from  the  strange  faces  which  appear  and 
disappear  without  being  announced  by  their  names,  from 
the  collecting  and  cleaning  of  arms,  and  the  anxious 
gloom  and  bustle  which  seem  to  agitate  every  male  in 
the  castle,  it  may  not  be  impossible  for  us  (always  in  case 
matters  be  driven  to  extremity)  to  shape  out  some  little 
supplemental  conspiracy  of  our  own.  I  hope  the  gentle- 
men have  not  kept  all  the  policy  to  themselves  ;  and 
there  is  one  associate  that  I  would  gladly  admit  to  our 
counsel." 

VOL.   XI.  5 


66  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Not  Nancy  ?  " 

"  O,  no  !  "  said  Miss  Ilderton  ;  "  Nancy,  though  an  ex- 
cellent good  girl,  and  fondly  attached  to  you,  would  make 
a  dull  conspirator — as  dull  as  Renault  and  all  the  other 
subordinate  plotters  in  Venice  Preserved.  No  ;  this  is  a 
Jaffier,  or  Pierre,  if  you  like  the  character  better ;  and 
yet,  though  I  know  I  shall  please  you,  I  am  afraid  to 
mention  his  name  to  you,  lest  I  vex  you  at  the  same 
time.  Can  you  not  guess  ?  Something  about  an  eagle 
and  a  rock — it  does  not  begin  with  eagle  in  EngHsh,  but 
something  very  like  it  in  Scotch." 

"  You  cannot  mean  young  Earnscliff,  Lucy  ? "  said 
Miss  Vere,  blushing  deej)ly. 

"  And  whom  else  should  I  mean  ?  "  said  Lucy.  "  Jaf- 
fiers  and  Pierres  are  very  scarce  in  this  country,  I  take 
it,  though  one  could  find  Renaults  and  Bedamars  enow." 

"  How  can  you  talk  so  wildly,  Lucy  ?  Your  plays 
and  romances  have  positively  turned  your  brain.  You 
know,  that,  independent  of  my  father's  consent,  without 
which  I  never  will  marry  any  one,  and  which,  in  the  case 
you  point  at,  would  never  be  granted  ;  independent,  too, 
of  our  knowing  nothing  of  young  Earnscliff's  inclinations, 
but  by  your  own  wild  conjectures  and  fancies — besides 
all  this,  there  is  the  fatal  brawl !  " 

"  When  his  father  was  killed  ?  "  said  Lucy.  "  But 
that  was  very  long  ago ;  and  I  hope  we  have  outlived 
the  time  of  bloody  feud,  when  a  quarrel  was  carried  down 
between  two  families  from  father  to  son,  like  a  Spanish 
game  at  chess,  and  a  murder  or  two  committed  in  every 
generation,  just  to  keep  the  matter  from  going  to  sleep. 
We  do  with  our  quarrels  now-a-days  as  with  our  clothes ; 
cut  them  out  for  ourselves,  and  wear  them  out  in  our 
own  day,  and  should  no  more  think  of  resenting  our 


THE    BLAGK    DWARF.  67 

father's  feuds,  than  of  wearing  their  slashed  doublets  and 
trunk-hose." 

"  You  treat  this  far  too  lightly,  Lucy,"  answered  Miss 
Vere. 

"  Not  a  bit,  my  dear  Isabella,"  said  Lucy.  "  Consider, 
your  fathei",  though  present  in  the  unhappy  aiSray,  is 
never  supposed  to  have  struck  the  fatal  blow  ;  besides,  in 
former  times,  in  case  of  mutual  slaughter  between  clans, 
subsequent  alliances  were  so  far  from  being  excluded, 
that  the  hand  of  a  daughter  or  a  sister  was  the  most 
frequent  gage  of  I'econciliation.  You  laugh  at  my  skill 
in  romance ;  "  but,  I  assure  you,  should  your  history  be 
written,  like  that  of  many  a  less  distressed  and  less 
deserving  heroine,  the  Avell-judging  reader  would  set  you 
down  for  the  lady  and  the  love  of  Earnscliff,  from  the 
very  obstacle  which  you  suppose  so  insurmountable." 

"  But  these  are  not  the  days  of  romance,  but  of  sad 
reality,  for  there  stands  the  castle  of  Ellieslaw." 

"  And  there  stands  Sir  F'rederick  Langley  at  the  gate, 
waiting  to  assist  the  ladies  from  their  palfreys.  I  would 
as  lief  touch  a  toad ;  I  will  disappoint  him,  and  take  old 
Horsington  the  groom  for  my  master  of  the  horse." 

So  saying,  the  lively  young  lady  switched  her  palfrey 
forward,  and  passing  Sir  Frederick  with  a  familiar  nod 
as  he  stood  ready  to  take  her  horse's  rein,  she  cantered 
on  and  jumped  into  the  ai-ms  of  the  old  groom.  Fain 
would  Isabella  have  done  the  same  had  she  dared ;  but 
her  father  stood  near,  displeasure  already  darkening  on 
a  countenance  peculiarly  qualified  to  express  the  harsher 
passions,  and  she  was  compelled  to  receive  the  unwel- 
come assiduities  of  her  detested  suitor. 


68  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Let  not  us  that  are  squires  of  the  night's  body  be  called  thieves  of  the  day's 

booty;  let  us  be  Diana's  foresters,  gentlemen  of  the  shade,  minions  of  the 

moon. 

Henry  the  Fodrth,  Part  I. 

The  Solitary  had  consumed  the  remainder  of  the  day 
in  which  he  had  the  interview  with  the  young  ladies, 
within  the  precincts  of  his  garden.  Evening  again  found 
him  seated  on  his  favourite  stone.  The  sun  setting  red, 
and  among  seas  of  rolling  clouds,  threw  a  gloomy  lustre 
over  the  moor,  and  gave  a  deeper  purple  to  the  broad 
outline  of  heathy  mountains  which  surrounded  this  deso- 
late spot.  The  Dwarf  sate  watching  the  clouds  as  they 
lowered  above  each  other  in  masses  of  conglomerated 
vapours,  and,  as  a  strong  lurid  beam  of  the  sinking  lumi- 
nary darted  full  on  his  solitary  and  uncouth  figure,  he 
might  well  have  seemed  the  demon  of  the  storm  which 
was  gathering,  or  some  gnome  summoned  forth  from  the 
recesses  of  the  earth  by  the  subterranean  signals  of  its 
approach.  As  he  sate  thus,  with  his  dark  eye  turned 
towards  the  scowling  and  blackening  heaven,  a  horseman 
rode  rapidly  up  to  him,  and  stopping,  as  if  to  let  his  horse 
breathe  for  an  instant,  made  a  sort  of  obeisance  to  the 
anchoret,  with  an  air  betwixt  efii'ontery  and  embarrass- 
ment. 

The  figure  of  the  rider  was  thin,  tall,  and  slender,  but 
remarkably  athletic,  bony,  and  sinewy ;  like  one  who  had 


THE    BLACK    DWAKF.  69 

all  his  life  followed  those  violent  exercises  which  prevent 
the  human  form  from  increasing  in  bulk,  while  they  harden 
and  confirm  by  habit  its  muscular  powers.  His  face,  sharp- 
featui-ed,  sun-burnt,  and  freckled,  had  a  sinister  expression 
of  violence,  impudence,  and  cunning,  each  of  which  seemed 
alternately  to  predominate  over  the  others,  Sandy  col- 
oured hair,  and  reddish  eye-brows,  from  under  which 
looked  forth  his  sharp  grey  eyes,  completed  the  inaus- 
picious outline  of  the  horseman's  physiognomy.  He  had 
pistols  in  his  holsters,  and  another  pair  peeped  from  his 
belt,  though  he  had  taken  some  pains  to  conceal  them  by 
buttoning  his  doublet.  He  wore  a  rusted  steel  head- 
piece ;  a  buff  jacket  of  rather  an  antique  cast ;  gloves,  of 
which  that  for  the  right  hand  was  covered  with  small 
scales  of  iron,  like  an  ancient  gauntlet ;  and  a  long  broad- 
sword completed  his  equipage. 

"  So,"  said  the  Dwarf,  "  rapine  and  murder  once  more 
on  liorseback." 

"  On  horseback  ? "  said  the  bandit ;  "  ay,  ay,  Elshie, 
your  leech-craft  has  set  me  on  the  bonny  bay  again." 

"  And  all  those  promises  of  amendment  which  you 
made  during  your  illness  forgotten  ?  "  continued  Elshen- 
der. 

"  All  clear  away,  with  the  water-saps  and  panada," 
returned  the  unabashed  convalescent.  4,"  Ye  ken,  Elshie, 
for  they  say  ye  are  weel  acquent  wi'  the  gentleman. 

When  the  devil  was  sick,  the  devil  a  monk  would  be, 
When  the  devil  was  well,  the  devil  a  monk  was  he." 

"  Thou  say'st  true,"  said  the  Solitary  ;  "  as  well  divide 
a  wolf  from  his  appetite  for  carnage,  or  a  raven  from 
her  scent  of  slaughter,  as  thee  from  thy  accursed  propen- 
sities." 


70  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

"  Why,  what  would  you  have  me  to  do  ?  It's  bom 
with  me — lies  in  my  very  blude  and  bane.  Why,  man, 
the  lads  of  Westburnflat,  foi*  ten  lang  descents,  have  been 
reivers  and  lifters.  They  have  all  drunk  hard,  lived  high, 
taking  deep  revenge  for  light  offence,  and  never  wanted 
gear  for  the  winning." 

"  Right ;  and  thou  art  as  thorough-bred  a  wolf,"  said 
the  Dwarf,  "  as  ever  leapt  a  lamb-fold  at  night.  On  what 
hell's  errand  art  thou  bound  now  ?  " 

"  Can  your  skill  not  guess  ?  " 

"  Thus  far  I  know,"  said  the  Dwarf,  ''  that  thy  purpose 
is  bad,  thy  deed  will  be  worse,  and  the  issue  worst  of 
all." 

"  And  you  like  me  the  better  for  it.  Father  Elshie,  eh  ?  "- 
said  Westburnflat ;  "  you  always  said  you  did." 

"  1  have  cause  to  like  all,"  answered  the  Solitary,  "  that 
are  scourges  to  their  fellow-creatures,  and  thou  art  a 
bloody  one." 

"  No — I  say  not  guilty  to  that — never  bluidy  unless 
there's  resistance,  and  that  sets  a  man's  bristles  up,  ye 
ken.  And  this  is  nae  great  matter,  after  a' ;  just  to  cut 
the  comb  of  a  young  cock  that  has  been  crawing  a  little 
ower  crousely." 

"  Not  young  Earnscliff  ?  "  said  the  Solitary,  with  some 
emotion.  ^ 

"No;  not  young  Earnscliff — not  young  Earnscliff  ye<; 
but  his  time  may  come,  if  he  will  not  take  warning,  and 
get  him  back  to  the  burrow-town  that  he's  fit  for,  and  no 
keep  skelping  about  here,  destroying  the  few  deer  that 
are  left  in  the  country,  and  pretending  to  act  as  a  magis- 
trate, and  writing  letters  to  the  great  folk  at  Auld  Reekie, 
about  the  disturbed  state  of  the  land.  Let  him  take  care 
o'  himsell." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  71 

"  Then  it  must  be  Hobbie  of  tlie  Hengh-foot,"  said 
Elshie.     "  What  harm  has  the  lad  done  you  ?  " 

"  Harm  !  nae  great  harm  ;  but  I  hear  he  says  I  staid 
away  from  the  Ba'spiel  on  Fastern's  E'en,  for  fear  of  him ; 
and  it  was  only  for  fear  of  the  Country  Keeper,  for  there 
was  a  warrant  against  me.  I'll  stand  Hobble's  feud,  and 
a'  his  clan's.  But  it's  not  so  much  for  that,  as  to  gie  him 
a  lesson  not  to  let  his  tongue  gallop  ower  freely  about  his 
betters.  I  trow  he  will  hae  lost  the  best  pen-feather  o' 
his  wing  before  to-morrow  morning. — Farewell,  Elshie ; 
there's  some  canny  boys  waiting  for  me  down  amang  the 
shaws,  owerby ;  I  will  see  you  as  I  come  back,  and  bring 
ye  a  blithe  tale  in  return  for  your  leech-craft." 

Ere  the  Dwai'f  could  collect  himself  to  reply,  the 
Reiver  of  Westburnfiat  set  spurs  to  his  horse.  The  ani- 
mal, starting  at  one  of  the  stones  which  lay  scattered 
about,  flew  from  the  path.  The  rider  exercised  his  spurs 
without  moderation  or  mercy.  The  horse  became  furious, 
reared,  kicked,  plunged,  and  bolted  like  a  deer,  with  all 
his  four  feet  off  the  ground  at  once.  It  was  in  vain  ;  the 
unrelenting  rider  sate  as  if  he  had  been  a  part^of  the 
horse  which  he  bestrode  ;  and,  after  a  short  but  furious 
contest,  compelled  the  subdued  animal  to  proceed  upon 
the  path  at  a  rate  which  soon  carried  him  out  of  sight  of 
the  Solitary. 

"  That  villain,"  exclaimed  the  Dwarf, — "  that  cold- 
blooded, hardened,  unrelenting  ruffian, — that  wretch, 
whose  every  thought  is  infected  with  crimes, — has  thews 
and  sinews,  limbs,  strength,  and  activity  enough  to  com- 
pel a  nobler  animal  than  himself  to  carry  him  to  the  place 
where  he  is  to  perpetrate  his  wickedness ;  while  I,  had  I 
the  weakness  to  wish  to  put  his  wretched  victim  on  his 
guard,  and  to  save  the  helpless  family,  would  see  my  good 


72  "WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

intentions  frustrated  by  the  decrepitude  which  chains  me 
to  the  spot. — Why  should  I  wish  it  were  otherwise  ? 
What  have  my  screech-owl  voice,  my  hideous  form,  and 
my  mis-shapen  features,  to  do  with  the  fairer  workman- 
ship of  nature  ?  Do  not  men  receive  even  my  benefits 
with  shrinking  horror  and  ill-suppressed  disgust  ?  And 
why  should  I  interest  myself  in  a  race  which  accounts 
me  a  pi-odigy  and  an  outcast,  and  which  has  treated  me 
as  such  ?  No ;  by  all  the  ingratitude  which  I  have  reaped 
— by  all  the  wrongs  which  I  have  sustained — by  my  im- 
prisonment, my  stripes,  my  chains,  I  will  wrestle  down 
my  feelings  of  rebellious  humanity !  I  will  not  be  the 
fool  I  have  been,  to  swerve  from  my  principles  whenever 
there  was  an  appeal,  forsooth,  to  my  feelings ;  as  if  I, 
towards  whom  none  show  sympathy,  ought  to  have  sym- 
pathy with  any  one.  Let  Destiny  drive  forth  her  scythed 
car  through  the  overwhelmed  and  trembling  mass  of  hu- 
manity !  Shall  I  be  the  idiot  to  throw  this  decrepit  form, 
this  mis-shapen  lump  of  mortality,  under  her  wheels,  that 
the  Dwarf,  the  Wizard,  the  Hunchback,  may  save  from 
destruction  some  fair  form  or  some  active  frame,  and  aU 
the  world  clap  their  hands  at  the  exchange  ?  No,  never ! 
— And  yet  this  Elliot — this  Hobbie,  so  young  and  gallant, 
so  frank,  so — I  will  think  of  it  no  longer.  I  cannot  aid  him 
if  I  would,  and  I  am  resolved — ^firmly  resolved,  that  I  would 
not  aid  him,  if  a  wish  were  the  pledge  of  his  safety  ! " 

Having  thus  ended  his  soliloquy,  he  retreated  into  his 
hut  for  shelter  from  the  storm  which  was  fast  approaching, 
and  now  began  to  burst  in  large  and  heavy  drops  of  rain. 
The  last  rays  of  the  sun  now  disappeared  entirely,  and 
two  or  three  claps  of  distant  thunder  followed  each  other 
at  brief  intervals,  echoing  and  re-echoing  among  the  range 
of  heathy  fells  like  the  sound  of  a  distant  engagement. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  73 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Proud  bird  of  the  mountain,  ttiy  plume  shall  be  torn ! — 

Return  to  thy  dwelling ;  all  lonely,  return ; 

l"or  the  blackness  of  ashes  shall  mark  where  it  stood, 

And  a  wild  mother  scream  o'er  her  famishing  brood. 

Campbell. 

The  night  continued  sullen  and  stormy ;  but  morning 
rose  as  if  refreshed  by  the  rains.  Even  the  Mucklestane- 
Moor,  with  its  broad  bleak  swells  of  barren  grounds, 
interspersed  with  marshy  pools  of  water,  seemed  to  smile 
under  the  serene  influence  of  the  sky,  just  as  good- 
humour  can  spread  a  certain  inexpressible  charm  over 
the  plainest  human  countenance.  The  heath  was  in  its 
thickest  and  deepest  bloom.  The  bees,  which  the  Solitary 
had  added  to  his  rural  establishment,  were  abroad  and  on 
the  wing,  and  filled  the  air  with  the  murmurs  of  their 
industry.  As  the  old  man  crept  out  of  his  little  hut,  his 
two  she-goats  came  to  meet  him,  and  licked  his  hands  in 
gratitude  for  the  vegetables  with  which  he  supplied  them 
from  his  garden.  "  You,  at  least,"  he  said — "  you,  at 
least,  see  no  differences  in  form  which  can  alter  your 
feelings  to  a  benefactor' — to  you,  the  finest  shape  that 
ever  statuary  moulded  would  be  an  object  of  indifference 
or  of  alarm,  should  it  present  itself  instead  of  the  mis- 
shapen trunk  to  whose  services  you  are  accustomed. 
While  I  was  in  the  world,  did  I  ever  meet  with  such  a 


74  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

return  of  gratitude  ?  No  ;  the  domestic  whom  I  had 
bred  from  infancy  made  mouths  at  me  as  he  stood  behind 
my   chair ;  the   friend  wliom   I  had   supported  with  my 

fortune,  and  for  whose  sake  I  had  even  stained (he 

stopped  with  a  strong  convulsive  shudder,)  even  he 
thought  me  more  fit  for  the  society  of  lunatics — for  their 
disgraceful  restraints — for  their  cruel  privations,  than  for 
communication  with  the  rest  of  humanity.  Hubert  alone 
— and  Hubert  too  will  one  day  abandon  me.  All  are  of 
a  piece,  one  mass  of  wickedness,  selfishness,  and  ingrati- 
tude— wretches,  who  sin  even  in  their  devotions ;  and  of 
such  hardness  of  heart,  that  they  do  not,  without  hypoc- 
risy, even  thank  the  Deity  himself  for  his  warm  sun  and 
pure  air." 

As  he  was  plunged  in  these  gloomy  soliloquies,  he 
heard  the  tramp  of  a  horse  on  the  other  side  of  his  inclos- 
ure,  and  a  strong  clear  bass  voice  singing  with  the  Uveli- 
ness  inspired  by  a  light  heart, — 

Canny  Hobbie  Elliot,  canny  Hobbie  now, 
Canny  Hobbie  Elliot,  I'se  gang  alang  wi'  you. 

At  the  same  moment,  a  large  deer  greyhound  sprung 
over  the  hermit's  fence.  It  is  well  known  to  the  sports- 
men in  these  wilds,  that  the  appearance  and  scent  of  the 
goat  so  much  resemble  those  of  their  usual  objects  of 
chase,  that  the  best-broke  greyhounds  will  sometimes  fly 
upon  them.  The  dog  in  question  instantly  pulled  down 
and  throttled  one  of  the  hermit's  she-goats,  while  Hobbie 
Elliot,  who  came  up,  and  jumped  from  his  horse  for  the 
purpose,  was  unable  to  extricate  the  harmless  animal 
from  the  fangs  of  his  attendant  until  it  was  expiring. 
The  Dwarf  eyed,  for  a  few  moments,  the  convulsive 
starts  of  his  dying  favourite,  until  the  poor  goat  stretched 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  75 

out  lier  limbs  with  the  twitches  and  shivering  fit  of  the 
last  agony.  He  then  started  into  an  access  of  frenzy, 
and  unsheathing  a  long  sharp  knife,  or  dagger,  which  he 
wore  under  his  coat,  he  was  about  to  launch  it  at  the  dog, 
when  Hobbie,  perceiving  his  purpose,  interposed,  and 
caught  hold  of  his  hand,  exclaiming,  "  Let  a  be  the  hound, 
man — let  a  be  the  hound  ! — Na,  na,  Killbuck  mauna  be 
guided  that  gate,  neither." 

The  Dwarf  turned  his  rage  on  the  young  farmer ;  and, 
by  a  sudden  effort,  far  more  powerful  than  Hobbie 
expected  from  such  a  person,  freed  his  wrist  from  his 
grasp,  and  offered  the  dagger  at  his  heart.  All  this  was 
done  in  the  twinkUng  of  an  eye,  and  the  incensed  Recluse 
might  have  completed  his  vengeance  by  plunging  the 
weapon  in  Elliot's  bosom,  had  he  not  been  checked  by  an 
mternal  impulse  which  made  him  hurl  the  knife  to  a 
distance. 

"  No,"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  thus  voluntarily  deprived 
himself  of  the  means  of  gratifying  his  rage ;  "  not  again 
— not  again !  " 

Hobbie  retreated  a  step  or  two  in  great  surprise,  dis- 
composure, and  disdain,  at  having  been  placed  in  such 
danger  by  an  object  apparently  so  contemptible. 

"  The  deil's  in  the  body  for  strength  and  bitterness  ! " 
were  the  first  words  that  escaped  him,  which  he  followed 
up  with  an  apology  for  the  accident  that  had  given  rise 
to  their  disagreement.  "I  am  no  justifying  Killbuck 
a'thegither  neither,  and  I  am  sure  it  is  as  vexing  to  me 
as  to  you,  Elshie,  that  the  mischance  should  hae  hap- 
pened ;  but  I'll  send  you  twa  goats  and  twa  fat  gimmers, 
man,  to  make  a'  straight  again.  A  wise  man  hke  you 
shouldna  bear  malice  against  a  poor  dumb  thing ;  ye  see 
that  a  goat's  like  first-cousin  to  a  deer,  sae  he  acted  but 


76  WAVERLET   KOVELS. 

according  to  his  nature  after  a'.  Had  it  been  a  pet-lamb, 
there  wad  hae  been  mair  to  be  said.  Ye  suld  keep  sheep, 
Elshie,  and  no  goats,  where  there's  sae  monj  deer-hounds 
about — ^but  I'll  send  ye  baith." 

"  Wretch  ! "  said  the  hermit,  "  your  cruelty  has  de- 
stroyed one  of  the  only  creatures  in  existence  that  would 
look  on  me  with  kindness  ! " 

"  Dear  Elshie,"  answered  Hobbie,  "  I'm  wae  ye  suld 
hae  cause  to  say  sae  ;  I'm  sure  it  wasna  wi'  my  will. 
And  yet,  it's  true,  I  should  hae  minded  your  goats,  and 
coupled  up  the  dogs.  I'm  sure  I  would  rather  they  had 
worried  the  primest  wether  in  my  faulds.  Come,  man, 
forget  and  forgie.  I'm  e'en  as  vexed  as  ye  can  be — But 
I  am  a  bridegroom,  ye  see,  and  that  puts  a'  things  out  o' 
my  head,  I  think.  There's  the  marriage-dinner,  or  gude 
part  o't,  that  my  twa  brithers  are  bringing  on  a  sled  round 
by  the  Riders'  Slack,  three  goodly  bucks  as  ever  ran  on 
Dallomlea,  as  the  sang  says ;  they  couldna  come  the 
straight  road  for  the  saft  grund.  I  wad  send  ye  a  bit 
venison,  but  ye  wadna  take  it  weel  maybe,  for  Killbuck 
catched  it." 

During  this  long  speech,  in  which  the  good-natured 
Borderer  endeavoured  to  propitiate  the  offended  Dwarf 
by  every  argument  he  could  think  of,  he  heard  him  with 
his  eyes  bent  on  the  ground,  as  if  in  the  deepest  medita- 
tion, and  at  length  broke  forth — "  Nature  ? — yes  !  it  is 
indeed  in  the  usual  beaten  path  of  Nature.  The  strong 
gripe  and  throttle  the  w^eak  ;  the  rich  depress  and  despoil 
the  needy;  the  happy  (those  who  are  idiots  enough  to 
think  themselves  happy)  insult  the  misery  and  diminish 
the  consolation  of  the  wretched.  Go  hence,  thou  who 
hast  contrived  to  give  an  additional  pang  to  the  most 
miserable  of  human  beings — thou  who  hast  deprived  me 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  77 

of  what  I  half  considered  as  a  source  of  comfort.  Go 
hence,  and  enjoy  the  happiness  prepared  for  thee  at 
home ! " 

"  Never  stir,"  said  Hobbie,  "  if  I  wadua  take  you  wi' 
me,  man,  if  ye  wad  but  say  it  wad  divert  ye  to  be  at  the 
bridal  on  Monday.  There  will  be  a  hundred  strapping 
Elliots  to  ride  the  brouze — the  like's  no  been  seen  sin' 
the  days  of  auld  Martin  of  the  Preakin-tower — I  wad 
send  the  sled  for  ye  wi'  a  canny  powny." 

"  Is  it  to  me  you  propose  once  more  to  mix  in  the 
society  of  the  common  herd  ? "  said  the  Recluse,  with  an 
air  of  deep  disgust. 

"  Commons  !  "  retorted  Hobbie,  "  nae  siccan  commons 
neither ;  the  Elliots  hae  been  lang  kend  a  gentle  race." 

"Hence!  begone!"  reiterated  the  Dwarf:  "  may  the 
same  evil  luck  attend  thee  that  thou  hast  left  behind  with 
me !  If  I  go  not  with  you  myself,  see  if  you  can  escape 
what  my  attendants.  Wrath  and  Misery,  have  brought  to 
thy  threshold  before  thee." 

"  I  wish  ye  wadna  speak  that  gate,"  said  Hobbie. 
"  Ye  ken  yoursell,  Elshie,  naebody  judges  you  to  be 
ower  canny ;  now,  I'll  tell  ye  just  ae  word  for  a' — ye  hae 
spoken  as  muckle  as  wussing  ill  to  me  and  mine ;  now,  if 
ony  mischance  happen  to  Grace,  which  God  forbid,  or  to 
mysell,  or  to  the  poor  dumb  tyke ;  or  if  I  be  skaithed 
and  injured  in  body,  gudes,  or  gear,  I'll  no  forget  wha  it 
is  that  it's  owing  to." 

"  Out,  hind  !"  exclaimed  the  Dwarf;  "home!  home  to 
your  dwelhng,  and  think  on  me  when  you  find  what  has 
befallen  there." 

"  Aweel,  aweel,"  said  Hobbie,  mounting  his  horse,  "  it 
serves  naething  to  strive  wi'  cripples, — they  are  aye  can- 
kered ;  but  I'll  just  tell  ye  ae  thing,  neighbour,  that  if 


78  WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

things  be  otherwise  than  weel  wi'  Grace  Armstrong,  I'se 
gie  you  a  scouther,  if  there  be  a  tar-barrel  in  the  five 
parishes." 

So  saying,  he  rode  off;  and  Elshie,  after  looking  at 
him  with  a  scornful  and  indignant  laugh,  took  spade  and 
mattock,  and  occupied  himself  in  digging  a  grave  for  his 
deceased  favourite. 

A  low  whistle,  and  the  words,  "  Hisht,  Elshie,  hisht !  " 
disturbed  him  in  this  melancholy  occupation.  He  looked 
up,  and  the  Red  Reiver  of  Westburnflat  was  before  him. 
Like  Banquo's  murderer,  there  was  blood  on  his  face,  as 
well  as  upon  the  rowels  of  his  spurs  and  the  sides  of  his 
over-ridden  horse. 

"  How  now,  ruffian  ?  "  demanded  the  Dwarf,  "  is  thy 
job  chared  ?  " 

"  Ay,  ay,  doubt  not  that,  Elshie,"  answei'ed  the  free- 
booter ;  "  when  I  ride,  my  foes  may  moan.  They  have 
had  mair  light  than  comfort  at  the  Heugh-foot  this  morn- 
ing ;  there's  a  toom  byre  and  a  wide,  and  a  wail  and  a  cry 
for  the  bonny  bride. 

"  The  bride  ?  " 

"  Ay ;  CharUe  Cheat-the-Woodie,  as  we  ca'  him,  that's 
Charlie  Foster  of  Tinning  Beck,  has  promised  to  keep 
her  in  Cumberland  till  the  blast  blaw  by.  She  saw  me, 
and  kend  me  in  the  splore,  for  the  mask  fell  frae  my  face 
for  a  blink.  I  am  thinking  it  wad  concern  my  safety  if 
she  were  to  come  back  here,  for  there's  mony  o'  the  El- 
liots, and  they  band  weel  thegither  for  right  or  wrang. 
Now,  what  I  chiefly  come  to  ask  your  rede  in,  is  how  to 
make  her  sure  ?  " 

"  Wouldst  thou  murder  her  then  ?  " 

"  Umph  !  no,  no  ;  that  I  would  not  do,  if  I  could  help 
it.     But  they  say  they  can  whiles  get  folk  cannily  away 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  79 

to  the  plantations  from  some  of  the  out-ports,  and  some- 
thing to  boot  for  them  that  brings  a  bonny  wench. 
They're  wanted  beyond  seas  thae  female  cattle,  and 
they're  no  that  scarce  here.  But  I  think  o'  doing  better 
for  this  lassie.  There's  a  leddy,  that,  unless  she  be  a' 
the  better  bairn,  is  to  be  sent  to  foreign  parts  whether 
she  will  or  no  ;  now,  I  think  of  sending  Gi'ace  to  wait 
on  her — she's  a  bonny  lassie.  Hobbie  will  hae  a  merry 
morning  when  he  comes  hame,  and  misses  baith  bride  and 
gear." 

"  Ay  ;  and  do  you  not  pity  him  ?  "  said  the  Recluse. 

"  Wad  he  pity  me  were  I  gaeing  up  the  Castle-hill  at 
Jeddart  ?  *  And  yet  I  rue  something  for  the  bit  lassie  ; 
but  he'll  get  anither,  and  little  skaith  dune — ane  is  as 
gude  as  anither.  And  now,  you  that  like  to  hear  o* 
splores,  heard  ye  ever  o'  a  better  ane  than  I  hae  had  this 
morning  ?  " 

"  Air,  ocean,  and  fire,"  said  the  Dwarf,  speaking  to 
himself,  "  the  earthquake,  the  tempest,  the  volcano,  are 
all  mild  and  moderate,  compared  to  the  wrath  of  man. 
And  what  is  this  fellow,  but  one  more  skilled  than  others 
in  executing  the  end  of  his  existence  ? — Hear  me,  felon, 
go  again  where  I  before  sent  thee." 

"  To  the  Steward  ?  " 

"  Ay  ;  and  tell  him,  Elshender  the  Recluse  commands 
him  to  give  thee  gold.  But,  hear  rae,  let  the  maiden  be 
discharged  free  and  uninjured  ;  return  her  to  her  friends, 
and  let  her  swear  not  to  discover  thy  villany." 

"  Swear  ?  "  said  Westburnflat ;  "  but  what  if  she  break 
her  aith  ?  Women  are  not  famous  for  keeping  their  plight. 
A  wise  man  like  you  should  ken  that.     And  uninjured — 

*  The  place  of  execution  of  that  ancient  burgh,  where  many  of 
Westbiu-nflat's  profession  have  made  their  final  exit. 


80  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

wha  kens  what  may  happen  wei'e  she  to  be  left  lang  at 
Tinning  Beck  ?  Charlie  Cheat-the-Woodie  is  a  rough 
customer.  But  if  the  gold  could  be  made  up  to  twenty 
pieces,  I  think  I  could  ensure  her  being  wi'  her  friends 
within  twenty-four  hours." 

The  Dwarf  took  his  tablets  from  his  pocket,  marked  a 
line  on  them,  and  toi*e  out  the  leaf.  "  There,"  he  said, 
giving  the  robber  the  leaf — "  But,  mark  me  ;  thou  know- 
est  I  am  not  to  be  fooled  by  thy  treachery ;  if  thou  darest 
to  disobey  my  directions,  thy  wretched  life,  be  sure,  shall 
answer  for  it." 

"  I  know,"  said  the  fellow,  looking  down,  "  that  you 
have  power  on  earth,  however  you  came  by  it ;  you  can 
do  what  nae  other  man  can  do,  baith  by  physic  and  fore- 
sight ;  and  the  gold  is  shelled  down  when  ye  command,  as 
fast  as  I  have  seen  the  ashkeys  fall  in  a  frosty  morning  in 
October.     I  will  not  disobey  you." 

"  Begone  then,  and  relieve  me  of  thy  hateful  pres- 
ence." 

The  robber  set  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  rode  off  without 
reply. 

Hobbie  Elliot  had,  in  the  meanwhile,  pursued  his  jour- 
ney rapidly,  harassed  by  those  oppressive  and  indistinct 
fears  that  all  was  not  right,  which  men  usually  term  a 
presentiment  of  misfortune.  Ere  he  reached  the  top  of 
the  bank  from  which  he  could  look  down  on  his  own  hab- 
itation, he  was  met  by  his  nurse,  a  person  then  of  great 
consequence  in  all  families  in  Scotland,  whether  of  the 
higher  or  raiddlino;  classes.  The  connexion  between  them 
and  their  foster-children  was  considered  a  tie  far  too 
dearly  intimate  to  be  broken ;  and  it  usually  happened, 
in  the  course  of  years,  that  the  nurse  became  a  resident 
in  the  family  of  her  foster-son,  assisting  in  the  domestic 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  81 

duties,  and  receiving  all  marks  of*  attention  and  regard 
from  the  heads  of  the  family.  So  soon  as  Hobbie  recog- 
nised the  figure  of  Annaple,  in  her  red  cloak  and  black 
hood,  he  could  not  help  exclaiming  to  himself,  "  What  ill 
luck  can  hae  brought  the  auld  nurse  sae  far  frae  hame, 
her  that  never  stirs  a  gun-shot  frae  the  doorstane  for  or- 
dinar? — Hout,  it  will  just  be  to  get  crane-berries,  or 
wortle-berries,  or  some  such  stuff,  out  of  the  moss,  to 
make  the  pies  and  tarts  for  the  feast  on  Monday. — I  can- 
not get  the  words  of  that  cankered  auld  crijjple  deil's 
buckie  out  o'  my  head — the  least  thing  makes  me  dread 
some  ill  news.  0  Killbuck,  man  !  were  there  nae  deer 
and  goats  in  the  country  besides,  but  ye  behoved  to  gang 
and  worry  his  creature,  by  a'  other  folk's  ? 

By  this  time  Annaple,  with  a  brow  like  a  tragic  vol- 
ume, had  hobbled  towards  hira,  and  caught  his  horse  by 
the  bridle.  The  despair  in  her  look  was  so  evident  as  to 
deprive  even  him  of  the  power  of  asking  the  cause.  "  O, 
my  bairn !  "  she  cried,  "  gang  na  forward — gang  jia  for- 
ward— it's  a  sight  to  kill  onybody,  let  alane  thee." 

"  In  God's  name,  what's  the  matter  ?  said  the  aston- 
ished horseman,  endeavouring  to  extricate  his  bridle  from 
the  grasp  of  the  old  woman  ;  "  for  Heaven's  sake,  let  me 
go  and  see  what's  the  matter." 

"  Ohon  !  that  I  should  have  lived  to  see  the  day ! — 
The  steading's  a'  in  a  low,  and  the  bonny  stackyard  lying 
in  the  red  ashes,  and  the  gear  a'  driven  away.  But  gang 
na  forward ;  it  wad  break  your  young  heart,  hinny,  to  see 
what  my  auld  een  hae  seen  this  morning." 

"  And  Avho  has  dared  to  do  this  ?  let  go  my  bridle, 
Annaple — where  is  my  grandmother — my  sisters  ? — 
Where  is  Grace  Armstrong  ? — God  ! — the  words  of  the 
warlock  are  knelling  in  my  ears  !  " 

VOL.  XI.  6 


82  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

He  sprang  from  his  horse  to  rid  himself  of  Annaple's 
interruption,  and,  ascending  the  hill  with  great  speed, 
soon  came  in  view  of  the  spectacle  with  which  she  had 
threatened  him.  It  was  indeed  a  heart-breaking  sight. 
The  habitation  which  he  had  left  in  its  seclusion,  beside 
the  mountain-stream,  surrounded  with  every  evidence  of 
rustic  plenty,  was  now  a  wasted  and  blackened  ruin. 
From  amongst  the  shattered  and  sable  walls  the  smoke 
continued  to  rise.  The  turf-stack,  the  barn-yard,  the 
offices  stocked  with  cattle,  all  the  wealth  of  an  upland 
cultivator  of  the  period,  of  which  poor  Elliot  possessed 
no  common  share,  had  been  laid  waste  or  carried  oflF  in  a 
single  night.  He  stood  a  moment  motionless,  and  then 
exclaimed,  "  I  am  ruined — ruined  to  the  ground ! — But 
curse  on  the  warld's  gear — Had  it  not  been  the  week  be- 
fore the  bridal — But  I  am  nae  babe,  to  sit  down  and  greet 
about  it.  If  I  can  but  find  Grace,  and  my  grandmother, 
and  my  sisters  weel,  I  can  go  to  the  wars  in  Flanders,  as 
my  gude-sire  did,  under  the  Bellenden  banner,  wi'  auld 
Buccleuch.  At  ony  rate,  I  will  keep  up  a  heart,  or  they 
will  lose  theirs  a'thegither." 

Manfully  strode  Hobbie  down  the  hill,  resolved  to  sup- 
press his  own  despair,  and  administer  consolation  which 
he  did  not  feel.  The  neighbouring  inhabitants  of  the 
dell,  particularly  those  of  his  own  name,  had  already 
assembled.  The  younger  part  were  in  arms  and  clam- 
orous for  revenge,  although  they  knew  not  upon  whom  ; 
the  elder  were  taking  measures  for  the  relief  of  the  dis- 
tressed family.  Annaple's  cottage,  which  was  situated 
down  the  brook,  at  some  distance  from  the  scene  of  mis- 
chief, had  been  hastily  adapted  for  the  temporary  accom- 
modation of  the  old  lady  and  her  daughters,  with  such 
ai'ticles  as  had  been  contributed  by  the  neighbours,  for 
very  little  was  saved  from  the  wreck. 


THE    BLACK   DWARF.  83 

"  Are  we  to  stand  liere  a'  day,  sirs,"  exclaimed  one  tall 
young  man,  "  and  look  at  the  burnt  wa's  of  our  kinsman's 
house  ?  Every  wreath  of  the  reek  is  a  blast  of  shame 
upon  us  !  Let  us  to  horse,  and  take  the  chase. — Who  has 
the  nearest  bloodhound  ? 

"  It's  young  EarnsclifF,"  answered  another  ;  "  and  he's 
been  on  and  away  wi'  six  horse  lang  syne,  to  see  if  he  can 
track  them." 

*•'  Let  us  follow  him  then,  and  raise  the  country,  and 
mak  mair  help  as  we  i-ide,  and  then  have  at  the  Cumber- 
land reivers !  Take,  burn,  and  slay — they  that  lie 
nearest  us  shall  smart  first." 

"  Whisht !  baud  your  tongues,  daft  callants,"  said  an 
old  man,  "  ye  dinna  ken  what  ye  speak  about.  What  ! 
wad  ye  raise  war  atween  twa  pacificated  countries  ?  " 

"  And  what  signifies  deaving  us  wi'  tales  about  our 
fathers,"  retorted  the  young  man,  "  if  we're  to  sit  and  see 
our  friends'  houses  burnt  ower  their  heads,  and  no  put 
out  hand  to  revenge  them  ?  Our  fathers  did  not  do  that, 
I  trow  ?  " 

"  I  am  no  saying  ony  thing  against  revenging  Hobble's 
wrang,  puir  chield  ;  but  we  maun  take  the  law  wi'  us  in 
thae  days,  Simon,"  answered  the  more  prudent  elder. 

"  And  besides,"  said  another  old  man,  "  I  dinna  beUeve 
there's  ane  now  living  that  kens  the  lawful  mode  of  fol- 
lowing a  fray  across  the  Border.  Tarn  o'  Whittram  kend 
a'  about  it;  but  he  died  in  th%  hard  winter." 

"  Ay,"  said  a  third,  "  he  was  at  the  great  gathering, 
when  they  chased  as  far  as  Thirlwall ;  it  was  the  year 
after  the  fight  of  Philiphaugh." 

"  Hout,"  exclaimed  another  of  these  discording  coun- 
sellors, "  there's  nae  great  skill  needed  ;  just  put  a  lighted 
peat  on  the  end  of  a  spear,  or  hayfork,  or  siclike,  and 


84  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

blaw  a  horn,  and  cry  the  gathering-word,  and  then  it's 
lawful  to  follow  gear  into  England,  and  recover  it  by  the 
strong  hand,  or  to  take  gear  frae  some  other  Englishman, 
providing  ye  lift  nae  mair  than's  been  lifted  frae  you. 
That's  the  auld  Border  law,  made  at  Dundrennan,  in  the 
days  of  the  Black  Douglas.  Deil  ane  need  doubt  it.  It's 
as  clear  as  the  sun." 

"  Come  away,  then,  lads,"  cried  Simon,  "  get  to  your 
geldings,  and  we'll  take  auld  Cuddie  the  muckle  tasker 
wi'  us ;  he  kens  the  value  o'  the  stock  and  plenishing 
that's  been  lost.  Hobble's  stalls  and  stakes  shall  be  fou 
again  or  night ;  and  if  we  canna  big  up  the  auld  house 
sae  soon,  we'se  lay  an  English  ane  as  low  as  Heugh-foot 
is — and  that's  fair  play,  a'  the  warld  ower." 

This  animating  proposal  was  received  with  great  ap- 
plause by  the  younger  part  of  the  assemblage,  when  a 
whisper  ran  among  them,  "  There's  Hobbie  himsell,  puir 
fallow !  we'll  be  guided  by  him." 

The  principal  sufferer,  having  now  reached  the  bottom 
of  the  hill,  pushed  on  through  the  crowd,  unable,  from  the 
tumultuous  state  of  his  feelings,  to  do  more  than  receive 
and  return  the  grasps  of  the  friendly  hands  by  which  his 
neighbours  and  kinsmen  mutely  expressed  their  sym- 
pathy in  his  misfortune.  While  he  pressed  Simon  of 
Hackburn's  hand,  his  anxiety  at  length  found  words. 
"  Thank  ye,  Simon — thank  ye,  neighbours — I  ken  what 

ye  wad  a'  say.     But  where  "are  they  ? — Where  are " 

He  stopped,  as  if  afraid  even  to  name  the  objects  of  his 
inquiry ;  and  with  a  similar  feeling,  his  kinsmen,  without 
reply,  pointed  to  the  hut,  into  which  Hobbie  precipitated 
himself  with  the  desperate  air  of  one  who  is  resolved  to 
know  the  worst  at  once.  A  general  and  powerful  expres- 
sion of  sympathy  accompanied  him.  "  Ah,  puir  fallow — 
puir  Hobbie  ! " 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  85 

"  He'll  learn  the  warst  o't  now  ! " 

"  But  I  trust  Earnscliflf  will  get  some  speerings  o'  the 
pair  lassie." 

Such  were  the  exclamations  of  the  group,  who,  having 
no  acknowledged  leader  to  direct  their  motions,  passively- 
awaited  the  retui-n  of  the  sufferer,  and  determined  to  be 
guided  by  his  directions. 

The  meeting  between  Hobbie  and  his  family  was  in 
the  highest  degree  affecting.  His  sisters  threw  them- 
selves upon  him,  and  almost  stifled  him  with  their 
caresses,  as  if  to  prevent  his  looking  round  to  dis- 
tinguish the  absence  of  one  yet  more  beloved. 

"  God  help  thee,  my  son !  ■  He  can  help  when  worldly 
trust  is  a  broken  reed." — Such  was  the  welcome  of  the 
matron  to  her  unfortunate  grandson.  He  looked  eagerly 
round,  holding  two  of  his  sisters  by  the  hand,  while  the 
third  hung  about  his  neck — "  I  see  you — I  count  you — 
my  grandmother,  Lilias,  Jean,  and  Annot ;  but  where  is 

"   (he  hesitated,  and  then   continued,  as  if  with  an 

effort,)  "  Where  is  Grace  ?  Surely  this  is  not  a  time 
to  hide  hersell  frae  me — there's  nae  time  for  daffing 
now." 

"  O  brother  !  "  and  "  Our  poor  Grace  !  "  was  the  only 
answer  his  questions  could  procure,  till  his  grandmother 
rose  up,  and  gently  disengaged  him  from  the  weeping 
girls,  led  him  to  a  seat,  and  with  the  affecting  serenity 
which  sincere  piety,  like  oil  sprinkled  on  the  waves,  can 
thi-ow  over  the  most  acute  feelings,  she  said,  "  My  bairn, 
when  thy  grandfather  was  killed  in  the  wars,  and  left  me 
with  six  orphans  around  me,  with  scarce  bread  to  eat,  or 
a  roof  to  cover  us,  I  had  strength, — not  of  mine  own — 
but  I  had  strength  given  me  to  say,  The  Lord's  will  be 
done  ! — My  son,  our  peaceful  house  was  last  night  broken 


86  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

into  by  moss-troopers,  armed  and  masked;  they  have 
taken  and  desti'oyed  all,  and  carried  off  our  dear  Grace. 
Pray  for  strength  to  say,  His  will  be  done  ! " 

"  Mother !  mother  !  urge  me  not — I  cannot — not  now 
— I  am  a  sinful  man,  and  of  a  hardened  race.  Masked 
— armed — Grace  carried  off!  Gie  me  my  sword,  and 
my  father's  knapsack — I  will  have  vengeance,  if  I  should 
go  to  the  pit  of  darkness  to  seek  it ! " 

"  O  my  bairn,  my  bairn !  be  patient  under  the  rod. 
Who  knows  when  He  may  lift  his  hand  off  from  us  ? 
Young  Earnscliff,  Heaven  bless  him,  has  taen  the  chase, 
with  Davie  of  Stenhouse,  and  the  first  comers.  I  cried 
to  let  house  and  plenishing  burn,  and  follow  the  reivers 
to  recover  Grace,  and  Earnscliff  and  his  men  were  ower 
the  Fell  within  three  hours  after  the  deed.  God  bless 
him  !  he's  a  real  Earnscliff;  he's  his  father's  true  son — a 
leal  friend." 

"  A  true  friend  indeed ;  God  bless  him ! "  exclaimed 
Hobbie  ;  "  let's  on  and  away,  and  take  the  chase  after 
him." 

"  Oh,  my  child,  before  you  run  on  danger,  let  me  hear 
you  but  say.  His  will  be  done !  " 

"  Urge  me  not,  mother — not  now."  He  was  rushing 
out,  when,  looking  back,  he  observed  his  grandmother 
make  a  mute  attitude  of  affliction.  He  returned  hastily, 
threw  himself  into  her  arms,  and  said,  "  Yes,  mother,  I 
can  say,  His  will  be  done,  since  it  will  comfort  you." 

"May  He  go  forth — may  He  go  forth  with  you,  my 
dear  bairn ;  and  oh,  may  He  give  you  cause  to  say  on 
your  return.  His  name  be  praised  ! " 

"  Farewell,  mother  ! — farewell,  my  dear  sisters  ! "  ex- 
claimed Elhot,  and  rushed  out  of  the  house. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  87 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Now  horse,  and  hattock,  cried  tho  Laird, — 

Now  horse  and  hattock,  speedilie ; 
They  that  winna  ride  for  Telfer'3  kj'e. 

Let  them  never  look  in  the  face  o'  me. 

Border  Baixad. 

"Horsk!  horse!  and  spear!"  exclaimed  Hobbie  to 
his  kinsmen.  Many  a  ready  foot  was  in  the  stirrup ;  and, 
while  Elliot  hastily  collected  arms  and  accoutrements,  (no 
easy  matter  in  such  a  confusion,)  the  glen  resounded  with 
the  approbation  of  his  younger  friends. 

"  Ay,  ay !  "  exclaimed  Simon  of  Hackburn,  "  that's 
the  gate  to  take  it,  Hobbie.  Let  women  sit  and  greet  at 
hame,  men  must  do  as  they  have  been  done  by ;  it's  the 
Scripture  says  't." 

"  Haud  your  tongue,  sir,"  said  one  of  the  seniors, 
sternly  ;  "  dinna  abuse  the  Word  that  gate,  ye  dinna  ken 
what  ye  speak  about." 

"  Hae  ye  ony  tidings  ? — Hae  ye  ony  speerings,  Hob- 
bie ? — 0,  callants,  dinna  be  ower  hasty,"  said  old  Dick 
of  the  Dingle. 

"  What  signifies  preaching  to  us,  e'enow  ?  "  said  Si- 
mon ;  "  if  ye  canna  make  help  yoursell,  dinna  keep  back 
them  that  can." 

"  Whisht,  sir ;  wad  ye  take  vengeance  or  ye  ken  wha 
has  wrang'd  ye  ?  " 


OO  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  D'ye  think  we  dinna  ken  the  road  to  England  as 
weel  as  our  fathers  before  us  ? — All  evil  comes  out  o' 
theraway — it's  an  auld  saying  and  a  true ;  and  we'll  e'en 
away  there,  as  if  the  devil  was  blawing  us  south." 

"  We'll  follow  the  track  o'  Earnscliff's  horses  ower  the 
waste,"  cried  one  Elliot. 

"  I'll  prick  them  out  through  the  blindest  moor  in  the 
Border,  an  there  had  been  a  fair  held  there  the  day  be- 
fore," said  Hugh,  the  blacksmith  of  Ringleburn,  "  for  I 
aye  shoe  his  horse  wi'  my  ain  hand." 

"  Lay  on  the  deer-hounds,"  cried  another ;  "  where  are 
they?" 

"  Hout,  man,  the  sun's  been  lang  up,  and  the  dew  is 
aff  the  grund — the  scent  will  never  lie." 

Hobbie  instantly  whistled  on  his  hounds,  which  were 
roving  about  the  ruins  of  their  old  habitation,  and  filling 
the  air  with  their  doleful  howls. 

"Now,  Killbuck,"  said  Hobbie,  "try  thy  skill  this  day" 
— and  then,  as  if  a  light  had  suddenly  broke  on  him, — 
"  that  ill-faur'd  goblin  spak  something  o'  this  !  He  may 
ken  mair  o't,  either  by  villains  on  earth,  or  devils  below 
— I'll  hae  it  frae  him,  if  I  should  cut  it  out  o'  his  mis- 
shapen bouk  wi'  my  whinger."  He  then  hastily  gave 
directions  to  his  comrades  ;  "  Four  o'  ye,  wi'  Simon,  baud 
right  forward  to  Grceme's-gap.  If  they're  English,  they'll 
be  for  being  back  that  way.  The  rest  disperse  by  twa- 
some  and  threesome  through  the  waste,  and  meet  me  at 
the  Trysting-pool.  Tell  my  brothers  when  they  come 
up,  to  follow  and  meet  us  there.  Poor  lads,  they  will 
hae  hearts  weelnigh  as  sair  as  mine ;  little  think  they 
what  a  sorrowful  house  they  are  bringing  their  venison 
to  !     I'll  ride  ower  Mucklestane-Moor  mysell." 

"  And  if  I  were  you,"  said   Dick  of  the  Dingle,  "  I 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  89 

would  speak  to  Canny  Elshie.  He  can  tell  you  whatever 
betides  in  this  land,  if  he's  sae  minded." 

"  He  shall  tell  me,"  said  Hobble,  who  was  busy  putting 
his  arms  in  order,  "  what  he  kens  o'  this  night's  job,  or  I 
shall  right  weel  ken  wherefore  he  does  not." 

"  Ay,  but  speak  him  fair,  my  bonny  man — speak  him 
fair,  Hobbie ;  the  like  o'  him  will  no  bear  thrawing. 
Tliey  converse  sae  muckle  wi'  thae  fractious  ghaists  and 
evil  spirits,  that  it  clean  spoils  their  temper." 

"  Let  me  alane  to  guide  him,"  answered  Hobbie  ; 
"  there's  that  in  my  breast  this  day,  that  would  ower- 
maister  a'  the  warlocks  on  earth,  and  a'  the  devils  in 
hell." 

And  being  now  fully  equipped,  he  threw  himself  on 
his  horse,  and  spurred  him  at  a  rapid  pace  against  the 
steep  ascent. 

Elliot  speedily  surmounted  the  hill,  rode  down  the 
other  side  at  the  same  rate,  crossed  a  wood,  and  traversed 
a  long  glen,  ere  he  at  length  regained  Mucklestane-Moor. 
As  he  was  obliged,  in  the  course  of  his  journey,  to  relax 
his  speed  in  consideration  of  the  labour  which  his  horse 
might  still  have  to  undergo,  he  had  time  to  consider 
maturely  in  what  manner  he  should  address  the  Dwarf, 
in  order  to  extract  from  him  the  knowledge  which  he 
supposed  him  to  be  in  possession  of  concerning  the  au- 
thors of  his  misfortunes.  Hobbie,  though  blunt,  plain  of 
speech,  and  hot  of  disposition,  like  most  of  his  country- 
men, was  by  no  means  deficient  in  the  shrewdness  which 
is  also  their  characteristic.  He  reflected,  that  from  what 
he  had  observed  on  the  memorable  night  when  the 
Dwarf  was  first  seen,  and  from  the  conduct  of  that  mys- 
terious being  ever  since,  he  was  likely  to  be  rendered  even 
more  obstinate  in  his  suUenness  by  threats  and  violence. 


90  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

"  I'll  speak  him  fair,"  he  said,  "  as  auld  Dickon  advised 
me.  Though  folk  say  he  has  a  league  wi'  Satan,  he 
canna  be  sic  an  incarnate  devil  as  no  to  take  some  pity 
in  a  case  like  mine ;  and  folk  threep  he'll  whiles  do  good, 
charitable  sort  o'  things.  I'll  keep  my  heart  doun  as 
well  as  I  can,  and  stroke  him  wi'  the  hair ;  and  if  the 
wai'st  come  to  the  w.arst,  it's  but  wringing  the  head  o' 
him  about  at  last." 

In  this  disposition  of  accommodation  he  approached 
the  hut  of  the  Solitary. 

The  old  man  was  not  upon  his  seat  of  audience,  nor 
could  Hobbie  perceive  him  in  his  garden,  or  inclosures. 

"  He's  gotten  into  his  very  keep,"  said  Hobbie,  "  maybe 
to  be  out  o'  the  gate  ;  but  I'se  pu'  it  doun  about  his  lugs, 
if  I  canna  win  at  him  otherwise." 

Having  thus  communed  with  himself,  he  raised  his 
voice,  and  invoked  Elshie,  in  a  tone  as  supplicating  as 
his  conflicting  feelings  would  permit.  "  Elshie,  my  gude 
friend  !  "  No  reply.  "  Elshie,  canny  Father  Elshie  !  " 
The  Dwarf  remained  mute.  "  Sorrow  be  in  the  crooked 
carcass  of  thee  !  "  said  the  Borderer  between  his  teeth  ; 
and  then  again  attempting  a  soothing  tone, — "  Good 
Father  Elshie,  a  most  miserable  creature  desires  some 
counsel  of  your  wisdom." 

"  The  better ! "  answered  the  shrill  and  discordant 
voice  of  the  Dwarf  through  a  very  small  window,  re- 
sembling an  arrowslit,  which  he  had  constructed  near 
the  door  of  his  dwelling,  and  through  which  he  could  see 
any  one  who  approached  it,  without  the  possibility  of 
their  looking  in  upon  him. 

"  The  better !  "  said  Hobbie  impatiently  ;  "  what  is  the 
better,  Elshie  ?  Do  you  not  hear  me  tell  you  I  am  the 
most  miserable  wretch  Uving  ?  " 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  91 

"  And  do  you  not  hear  me  tell  you  it  is  so  much  the 
better  ?  and  did  I  not  tell  you  this  morning,  when  you 
thought  yourself  so  happy,  what  an  evening  was  coming 
upon  you?" 

"  That  ye  did  e'en,"  replied  Hobbie,  "  and  that  gars 
me  come  to  you  for  advice  now  ;  they  that  foresaw  the 
trouble  maun  ken  the  cure." 

"  I  know  no  cure  for  earthly  trouble,"  returned  the 
Dwarf;  "  or  if  I  did,  why  should  I  help  others,  when 
none  hath  aided  me  ?  Have  I  not  lost  wealth,  that  would 
have  bought  all  thy  barren  hills  a  hundred  times  over  ? 
rank,  to  which  thine  is  as  that  of  a  peasant  ?  society, 
where  there  was  an  interchange  of  all  that  was  amiable — 
of  all  that  was  intellectual  ?  Have  I  not  lost  all  this  ? 
Am  I  not  residing  here,  the  veriest  outcast  on  the  face 
of  Nature,  in  the  most  hideous  and  most  solitary  of  her 
retreats,  myself  more  hideous  than  all  that  is  around 
me  ?  And  why  should  other  worms  complain  to  me 
when  they  are  trodden  on,  since  I  am  myself  lying 
crushed  and  writhing  under  the  chariot  wheel  ?  " 

"  Ye  may  have  lost  all  this,"  answered  Hobbie,  in  the 
bitterness  of  emotion ;  "  land  and  friends,  goods  and 
gear ;  ye  may  hae  lost  them  a', — but  ye  ne'er  can  hae 
sae  sair  a  heart  as  mine,  for  ye  ne'er  lost  nae  Grace 
Armstrong.  And  now  my  last  hopes  are  gane,  and  I 
shall  ne'er  see  her  mair." 

This  he  said  in  a  tone  of  deepest  emotion — and  there 
followed  a  long  pause,  for  the  mention  of  his  bride's 
name  had  overcome  the  more  angry  and  irritable  feel- 
ings of  poor  Hobbie.  Ere  he  had  again  addressed  the 
Solitary,  the  bony  hand  and  long  fingers  of  the  latter, 
holding  a  large  leathern  bag,  was  thrust  forth  at  the 
small  window,  and  as  it  unclutched  the  burden,  and  let  it 


92  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

drop  with  a  clang  upon  the  ground,  his  harsh  voice  again 
addressed  Elliot. 

"  There — there  lies  a  salve  for  every  human  ill ;  so,  at 
least,  each  human  wretch  readily  thinks. — Begone ;  re- 
turn twice  as  wealthy  as  thou  wert  before  yesterday,  and 
torment  me  no  more  with  questions,  complaints,  or  thanks  ; 
they  are  alike  odious  to  me." 

"  It's  a'  gowd,  by  Heaven  ! "  said  Elliot,  having  glanced 
at  the  contents ;  and  then  again  addressing  the  Hermit, 
"  Muckle  obliged  for  your  good-will ;  and  I  wad  blithely 
gie  you  a  bond  for  some  o'  the  siller,  or  a  wadset  ower 
the  lands  o'  Wideopen.  But  I  dinna  ken,  Elshie ;  to  be 
free  wi'  you,  I  dinna  like  to  use  siller  unless  I  kend  it  was 
decently  come  by ;  and  maybe  it  might  turn  into  sclate- 
stanes,  and  cheat  some  poor  man." 

"  Ignorant  idiot ! "  retorted  the  Dwarf ;  "  the  trash  is 
as  genuine  poison  as  ever  was  dug  out  of  the  bowels  of 
the  earth.  Take  it — use  it,  and  may  it  thrive  with  you 
as  it  hath  done  with  me  !  " 

"  But  I  tell  you,"  said  Elliot,  "  it  wasna  about  the  gear 
that  I  was  consulting  you, — it  was  a  braw  barn-yard, 
doubtless,  and  thirty  head  of  liner  cattle  there  werena  on 
this  side  of  the  Catrail ;  but  let  the  gear  gang, — if  ye 
could  gie  me  but  speerings  o'  puir  Grace,  I  would  be  con- 
tent to  be  your  slave  for  life,  in  ony  thing  that  didna 
touch  my  salvation.     O,  Elshie,  speak,  man,  speak  ! " 

"  Well,  then,"  answered  the  Dwarf,  as  if  worn  out  by 
his  importunity,  "  since  thou  hast  not  enough  of  woes 
of  thine  own,  but  must  needs  seek  to  burden  thyself  with 
those  of  a  partner,  seek  her  whom  thou  hast  lost  in  the 
West." 

"  In  the  West  ?     That's  a  wide  word." 

"  It  is  the  last,"  said  the  Dwarf,  "  which  I  design  to 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  93 

utter ; "  and  he  drew  the  shutters  of  his  window,  leaving 
Hobbie  to  make  the  most  of  the  hint  he  had  given. 

The  west ! — the  west ! — thought  Elliot ;  the  country  is 
pretty  quiet  down  that  way,  unless  it  were  Jock  o'  the 
Todholes  ;  and  he's  ower  auld  now  for  the  like  o'  thae  jobs. 
— West ! — By  my  life,  it  must  be  Westburnflat.  "  Elshie, 
just  tell  me  one  word.  Am  I  right  ?  Is  it  Westburnflat  ? 
If  I  am  wrang,  say  sae.  I  wadna  like  to  wyte  an  inno- 
cent neighbour  wi'  violence — No  answer  ? — It  must  be  the 
Red  Reiver — I  didna  think  he  wad  hae  ventured  on  me, 
neither,  and  sae  mony  kin  as  there's  o'  us — I  am  thinking 
he'll  hae  some  better  backing  than  his  Cumberland  friends. 
— Fareweel  to  you,  Elshie,  and  mony  thanks — I  dovvna 
be  fashed  wi'  the  siller  e'en  now,  for  I  maun  awa'  to  meet 
my  friends  at  the  Trysting-place — Sae,  if  ye  carena  to 
open  the  window,  ye  can  fetch  it  in  after  I'm  awa'." 

Still  there  was  no  reply. 

"  He's  deaf,  or  he's  daft,  or  he's  baith ;  but  I  hae  nae 
time  to  stay  to  claver  wi'  him." 

And  otF  rode  Hobbie  Elliot  towards  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous which  he  had  named  to  his  friends. 

Four  or  five  riders  were  already  gathei-ed  at  the  Tryst- 
ing  pool.  They  stood  in  close  consultation  together,  while 
their  horses  were  permitted  to  graze  among  the  poplars 
which  overhung  the  broad  still  pool.  A  more  numerous 
party  were  seen  coming  from  the  southward.  It  proved 
to  be  Earnscliff  and  his  party,  who  had  followed  the  track 
of  the  cattle  as  far  as  the  English  border,  but  had  halted 
on  the  information  that  a  considerable  force  was  drawn 
together  under  some  of  the  Jacobite  gentlemen  in  that 
district,  and  there  were  tidings  of  insurrection  in  different 
parts  of  Scotland.  This  took  away  from  the  act  which 
had  been  perpetrated  the  appearance  of  private  animosity, 


94  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

or  love  of  plunder ;  and  Eamscliff  was  now  disposed  to 
regard  it  as  a  symptom  of  civil  war.  The  young  gentle- 
man greeted  Hobbie  with  the  most  sincere  sympathy,  and 
informed  him  of  the  news  he  had  received. 

"  Then,  may  I  never  stir  frae  the  bit,"  said  Elliot,  "  if 
auld  Ellieslaw  is  not  at  the  bottom  o'  the  haill  villany  ! 
Ye  see  he's  leagued  with  the  Cumberland  Catholics ;  and 
that  agrees  weel  wi'  what  Elshie  hinted  about  Westburn- 
flat,  for  Ellieslaw  aye  protected  him,  and  he  will  want  to 
harry  and  disarm  the  country  about  his  ain  hand  before 
he  breaks  out." 

Some  now  remembered  that  the  party  of  ruffians  had 
been  heard  to  say  they  were  acting  for  James  VIII.  and 
were  charged  to  disarm  all  rebels.  Others  had  heard 
Westburnflat  boast,  in  drinking  parties,  that  Ellieslaw 
would  soon  be  in  arms  for  the  Jacobite  cause,  and  that  he 
himself  was  to  hold  a  command  under  him,  and  that  they 
would  be  bad  neighbours  for  young  Earnscliff,  and  all 
that  stood  out  for  the  established  government.  The  result 
was  a  strong  belief  that  Westburnflat  had  headed  the 
party  under  Ellieslaw's  orders,  and  they  resolved  to  pro- 
ceed instantly  to  the  house  of  the  former,  and,  if  possible, 
to  secure  his  person.  They  were  by  this  time  joined  by 
so  many  of  their  dispersed  friends,  that  their  number 
amounted  to  upwards  of  twenty  horsemen,  well  mounted, 
and  tolerably,  though  variously,  armed. 

A  brook,  which  issued  from  a  narrow  glen  among  the 
hills,  entered,  at  Westburnflat,  upon  the  open  marshy  level, 
which,  expanding  about  half  a  mile  in  every  direction, 
gives  name  to  the  spot.  In  this  place  the  character  of  the 
stream  becomes  changed,  and  from  being  a  lively  brisk- 
running  mountain  torrent,  it  stagnates,  like  a  blue  swollen 
snake,  in  dull  deep  windings,  through  the  swampy  level. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  95 

On  the  side  of  the  stream,  and  nearly  about  the  centre 
of  the  plain,  arose  the  tower  of  Westburnflat,  one  of  the 
few  remaining  strongholds  formerly  so  numerous  upon  the 
borders.  The  ground  upon  which  it  stood  was  gently 
elevated  above  the  marsh  for  the  space  of  about  a  hun- 
dred yards,  affording  an  esplanade  of  dry  turf,  which 
extended  itself  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the 
tower ;  but,  beyond  which,  the  surface  presented  to  stran- 
gers was  that  of  an  impassable  and  dangerous  bog.  The 
owner  of  the  tower  and  his  inmates  alone  knew  the  wind- 
ing and  intricate  paths,  which  leading  over  ground  that 
was  comparatively  sound,  admitted  visitors  to  his  resi- 
dence. But  among  the  party  which  w^ere  assembled 
under  Earnschff's  directions,  there  was  more  than  one 
person  qualified  to  act  as  a  guide.  For  although  the 
owner's  character  and  habits  of  life  were  generally  known, 
yet  the  laxity  of  feeling  with  respect  to  property  pre- 
vented his  being  looked  on  with  the  abhorrence  with 
which  he  must  have  been  regarded  in  a  more  civilized 
country.  He  was  considered  among  his  more  peaceable 
neighbours,  pretty  much  as  a  gambler,  cock -fighter,  or 
horse-jockey,  would  be  regai'ded  at  the  present  day ;  a 
person,  of  course,  whose  habits  were  to  be  condemned, 
and  his  society,  in  general,  avoided,  yet  who  could  not  be 
considereitt  as  marked  with  the  indelible  infamy  attached 
to  his  profession  where  laws  have  been  habitually  ob- 
served. And  their  indignation  was  awakened  against 
him  upon  this  occasion,  not  so  much  upon  account  of  the 
general  nature  of  the  transaction,  which  was  just  such  as 
was  to  be  expected  from  this  marauder,  as  that  the  vio- 
lence had  been  perpetrated  upon  a  neighbour  against 
whom  he  had  no  cause  of  quarrel, — against  a  friend  of 
their  own, — above  all,  against  one  of  the  name  of  Elliot, 


96 


WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


to  which  clan  most  of  them  belonged.  It  was  not  there- 
fore, wonderful,  that  there  should  be  several  in  the  band 
pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  locality  of  his  habitation, 
and  capable  of  giving  such  directions  and  guidance  as 
soon  placed  the  whole  party  on  the  open  space  of  firm 
ground  in  front  of  the  Tower  of  Westburnflat. 


THE   BLACK   DWARF.  97 


CHAPTER  IX. 


So  spak  the  knieht ;  the  geaunt  sed, 
Lead  forth  with  the,  the  sely  maid, 

And  mak  me  quite  of  the  and  sclie ; 
For  gLaunsing  ee,  or  brow  so  brent, 

Or  cheek  with  rose  and  lilye  blent, 
Me  lists  not  ficht  with  the. 

Romance  of  the  Falcon. 


The  tower,  before  which  the  party  now  stood,  was  a 
small  square  building  of  the  most  gloomy  aspect.  The 
walls  were  of  great  thickness,  and  the  windows,  or  slits 
which  served  the  purpose  of  windows,  seemed  rather 
calculated  to  afford  the  defenders  the  means  of  employing 
missile  weapons,  than  for  admitting  air  or  light  to  the 
apartments  within.  A  small  battlement  projected  over 
the  walls  on  every  side,  and  afforded  farther  advantage 
of  defence  by  its  niched  parapet,  within  which  arose  a 
steep  roof,  flagged  with  grey  stones.  A  single  turret  at 
one  angle,  defended  by  a  door  studded  with  huge  iron 
nails,  rose  above  the  battlement,  and  gave  access  to  the 
roof  from  within,  by  the  spiral  staircase  which  it  enclosed. 
It  seemed  to  the  party  that  their  motions  were  watched 
by  some  one  concealed  within  this  turret ;  and  they  were 
confirmed  in  their  belief,  when,  through  a  narrow  loop- 
hole, a  female  hand  was  seen  to  wave  a  handkerchief,  as 
if  by  way  of  signal  to  them.  Hobbie  was  almost  out  of 
his  senses  with  joy  and  eagerness. 


98  "WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  It  was  Grace's  hand  and  arm,"  he  said ;  "  I  can  swear 
to  it  amang  a  thousand.  There  is  not  the  hke  of  it  on 
this  side  of  the  Lowdens — We'll  have  her  out,  lads,  if 
we  should  carry  off  the  Tower  of  Westburnflat  stane  by 
stane." 

Earnschff,  though  he  doubted  the  possibility  of  recog- 
nising a  fair  maiden's  hand  at  such  a  distance  from  the 
eye  of  the  lover,  would  say  nothing  to  damp  his  friend's 
animated  hopes,  and  it  was  resolved  to  summon  the 
garrison. 

The  shout  of  the  party,  and  the  winding  of  one  or  two 
horns,  at  length  brought  to  a  loophole,  which  flanked  the 
entrance  the  haggard  face  of  an  old  woman. 

"  That's  the  Reiver's  mother,"  said  one  of  the  Elliots ; 
"  she's  ten  times  waur  than  himsell,  and  is  wyted  for 
muckle  of  the  ill  he  does  about  the  country." 

"  Wha  are  ye  ?  What  d'ye  want  here  ?  "  were  the 
queries  of  the  respectable  progenitor. 

"  We  are  seeking  William  Graeme  of  Westburnflat," 
said  Earnscliff. 

"  He's  no  at  hame,"  returned  the  old  dame. 

"  When  did  he  leave  home  ?  "  pursued  Earnscliff. 

"  I  canna  tell,"  said  the  portress. 

"  When  will  he  return  ?  "  said  Hobbie  Elliot. 

"  I  dinna  ken  naething  about  it,"  replied  the  inexorable 
guardian  of  the  keep. 

"  Is  there  any  body  within  the  tower  with  you  ?  "  again 
demanded  Earnscliff. 

"Naebody  but  mysell  and  baudrons,"  said  the  old 
woman. 

"  Then  open  the  gate  and  admit  us,"  said  Earnscliff; 
"  I  am  a  justice  of  peace,  and  in  search  of  the  evidence 
of  a  felony." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  99 

"  Deil  be  in  their  fingers  that  draws  a  bolt  for  ye," 
retorted  the  portress ;  "  for  mine  shall  never  do  it. 
Thinkna  ye  shame  o'  yoursells,  to  come  here  siccan  a 
band  o'  ye,  wi'  your  swords,  and  spears,  and  steel-caps,  to 
frighten  a  lone  widow  woman  ?  " 

"  Our  information,"  said  Earnscliff,  "  is  positive ;  we 
are  seeking  goods  which  have  been  forcibly  carried  oif,  to 
a  great  amount." 

"  And  a  young  woman,  that's  been  cruelly  made  pris- 
oner, that's  worth  mair  than  a'  the  gear,  twice  told," 
said  Hobbie. 

"And  I  warn  you,"  continued  Earnscliff,  "that  your 
only  way  to  prove  your  son's  innocence  is  to  give  us  quiet 
admittance  to  search  the  house." 

"  And  what  will  ye  do,  if  I  carena  to  thraw  the  keys, 
or  draw  the  bolts,  or  open  the  grate  to  sic  a  clamjam- 
frie  ?  "  said  the  old  dame,  scolfingly. 

"  Force  our  way  with  the  king's  keys,  and  break  the 
neck  of  every  living  soul  we  find  in  the  house,  if  ye 
dinna  gie  it  ower  forthwith ! "  menaced  the  incensed 
Hobbie. 

"  Threatened  folks  live  lang,"  said  the  hag,  in  the 
same  tone  of  irony  ;  "  there's  the  iron  grate — try  your 
skeel  on't,  lads — it  has  kept  out  as  gude  men  as  you,  or 
now." 

So  saying,  she  laughed,  and  withdrew  from  the  aper- 
ture through  which  she  had  held  the  parley. 

The  besiegers  now  opened  a  serious  consultation.  The 
immense  thickness  of  the  walls,  and  the  small  size  of  the 
windows,  might,  for  a  time,  have  even  resisted  cannon- 
shot.  The  entrance  was  secured,  first,  by  a  strong 
grated  door,  composed  entirely  of  hammered  iron,  of  such 
ponderous   strength  as  seemed  calculated    to  resist  any 


100  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

force  that  could  be  brought  against  it.  "  Pinches  or  fore- 
hammers  will  never  pick  upon't,"  said  Hugh,  the  black- 
smith of  Ringleburn  ;  "  ye  might  as  weel  batter  at  it  wi' 
pipe-staples." 

Within  the  doorway,  and  at  the  distance  of  nine  feet, 
which  was  the  solid  thickness  of  the  wall,  thei-e  was  a 
second  door  of  oak,  ci'ossed,  both  breadth  and  lengthways, 
with  clenched  bars  of  iron,  and  studded  full  of.  broad- 
headed  nails.  Besides  all  these  defences,  th^y  were  by 
no  means  confident  in  the  truth  of  the  old  dame's  asser- 
tion, that  she  alone  composed  the  garrison.  The  more 
knowing  of  the  party  had  observed  hoof-marks  in  the 
track  by  which  they  approached  the  tower,  which  seemed 
to  indicate  that  several  persons  had  very  lately  passed  in 
that  direction. 

To  all  these  difficulties  was  added  their  want  of  means 
for  attacking  the  place.  There  was  no  hope  of  procuring 
ladders  long  enough  to  reach  the  battlements,  and  the 
windows,  besides  being  very  narrow,  were  secured  with 
iron  bars.  Scaling  was  therefore  out  of  the  question ; 
mining  was  still  more  so,  for  want  of  tools  and  gun- 
powder ;  neither  wei-e  the  besiegers  provided  with  food, 
means  of  shelter,  or  other  conveniences,  which  might 
have  enabled  them  to  convert  the  siege  into  a  blockade  ; 
and  there  would,  at  any  rate,  have  been  a  risk  of  relief 
from  some  of  the  marauder's  comrades.  Hobbie  grinded 
and  gnashed  his  teeth,  as,  walking  round  the  fastness,  he 
could  devise  no  means  of  making  a  forcible  entry.  At 
length  he  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  And  what  for  no  do  as 
our  fathers  did  lang  syne  ?  Put  hand  to  the  wark,  lads. 
Let  us  cut  up  bushes  and  briers,  pile  them  before  the 
door  and  set  fire  to  them,  and  smoke  that  auld  devil's 
dam  as  if  she  were  to  be  reested  for  bacon." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  101 

All  immediately  closed  with  this  proposal,  and  some 
went  to  work  with  swords  and  knives  to  cut  down  the 
alder  and  hawthorn  bushes  which  grew  by  the  side  of  the 
sluggish  stream,  many  of  which  were  sufficiently  decayed 
and  dried  for  their  purpose,  while  others  began  to  collect 
them  in  a  large  stack,  properly  disposed  for  burning,  as 
close  to  the  iron-grate  as  they  could  be  piled.  Fire  was 
speedily  obtained  from  one  of  their  guns,  and  Hobbie  was 
already  advancing  to  the  pile  with  a  kindled  brand,  when 
the  sui'ly  face  of  the  robber,  and  the  muzzle  of  a  musque- 
toon,  were  partially  shown  at  a  shot-hole  which  flanked 
the  entrance.  "  Mony  thanks  to  ye,"  he  said,  scotfingly, 
"  for  collecting  sae  muckle  winter  eliding  for  us ;  but  if 
ye  step  a  foot  nearer  it  wi'  that  lunt,  it's  be  the  dearest 
step  ye  ever  made  in  your  days." 

"  We'll  sune  see  that,"  said  Hobbie,  advancing  fear- 
lessly with  the  torch. 

The  marauder  snapped  his  piece  at  him,  which,  for- 
tunately for  our  honest  friend,  did  not  go  off;  while 
Earnscliff,  firing  at  the  same  moment  at  the  narrow  aper- 
ture and  slight  mark  afforded  by  the  robber's  face,  grazed 
the  side  of  his  head  with  a  bullet.  He  had  apparently 
calculated  upon  his  post  affording  him  more  security,  for 
he  no  sooner  felt  the  wound,  though  a  very  slight  one, 
than  he  requested  a  parley,  and  demanded  to  know  what 
they  meant  by  attacking  in  this  fashion  a  peaceable  and 
honest  man,  and  shedding  his  blood  in  that  lawless  manner  ? 

"  We  want  your  prisoner,"  said  Earnscliff.  "  to  be 
delivered  up  to  us  in  safety." 

"  And  what  concern  have  you  with  her  ?  "  replied  the 
marauder. 

"  That,"  retorted  Earnscliff,  ''  you.  who  are  detaining 
her  by  force,  have  no  right  to  inquire." 


102  "WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  Aweel,  I  think  I  can  gie  a  guess,"  said  the  robber, 
"  Weel,  sirs,  I  am  laith  to  enter  into  deadly  feud  with  you 
by  spilling  ony  of  your  bluid,  though  EarnsclifF  hasna 
stopped  to  shed  mine — and  he  can  hit  a  mai'k  to  a 
groat's  breadth — so,  to  prevent  mair  skaith,  I  am  willing 
to  deliver  up  the  prisoner,  since  nae  less  will  please 
you. 

"And  Hobble's  gear?"  cried  Simon  of  Hackburn. 
"  D'ye  think  you're  to  be  free  to  plunder  the  faulds  and 
byres  of  a  gentle  Elliot,  as  if  they  were  an  auld  wife's 
hen's-cavey  ?  " 

"  As  I  live  by  bread,"  replied  "Willie  of  Westburnflat — 
"  As  I  live  by  bread,  I  have  not  a  single  cloot  o'  them ! 
They're  a'  ower  the  march  lang  syne ;  there's  no  a  horn 
o'  them  about  the  tower.  But  I'll  see  what  o'  them  can 
be  gotten  back,  and  I'll  take  this  day  twa  days  to  meet 
Hobbie  at  the  Castleton  wi'  twa  friends  on  ilka  side,  and 
see  to  mak  an  agreement  about  a'  the  wrang  he  can 
wyte  me  wi'." 

"Ay,  ay,"  said  Elliot,  "that  will  do  weel  eneugh." 
And  then  aside  to  his  kinsman,  "  Murrain  on  the  gear ! 
Lordsake,  man  !  say  nought  about  them.  Let  us  but  get 
puir  Grace  out  o'  that  auld  hellicat's  clutches." 

"  Will  ye  gie  me  your  word,  Earnscliff,"  said  the 
marauder,  who  still  lingered  at  the  shot-hole,  "  your  faith 
and  troth,  with  hand  and  glove,  that  I  am  free  to  come 
and  free  to  gae,  with  five  minutes  to  open  the  grate,  and 
five  minutes  to  steek  it  and  to  draw  the  bolts  ?  less  winna 
do,  for  they  want  creishing  sairly.     Will  ye  do  this  ?  " 

"You  shall  have  full  time,"  said  Earnscliff;  "I  plight 
my  faith  and  troth,  my  hand  and  my  glove." 

"  Wait  there  a  moment,  then,"  said  Westburnflat ;  "  or 
hear  ye,  I  wad  rather  ye  wad  fa'  back  a  pistol-shot  from 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  103 

the  door.  It's  no  that  I  misti-ust  your  word,  Earnscliff; 
but  it's  best  to  be  sure." 

"  Oh,  friend,"  thought  Hobbie  to  himself,  as  he  drew 
back,  "  an  I  had  you  but  on  Turner's-holm,*  and  naebody 
by  but  twa  honest  lads  to  see  fair  play,  I  wad  make  ye 
wish  ye  had  broken  your  leg  ere  ye  had  touched  beast  or 
body  that  belonged  to  me  !  '* 

"  He  has  a  white  feather  in  his  wing,  this  same  West- 
burnflat,  after  a',"  said  Simon  of  Hackburn,  somewhat 
scandalized  by  his  ready  surrender. — "  He'll  ne'er  fill  his 
father's  boots." 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  inner  door  of  the  tower  was 
opened,  and  the  mother  of  the  freebooter  appeared  in  the 
space  betwixt  that  and  the  outer  grate.  Willie  himself 
was  next  seen,  leading  forth  a  female ;  and  the  old  woman, 
carefully  bolting  the  grate  behind  them,  remained  on  the 
post  as  a  sort  of  sentinel. 

"  Ony  ane  or  twa  o'  ye  come  forward,"  said  the  outlaw, 
"  and  take  her  frae  my  hand  haill  and  sound." 

Hobbie  advanced  eagerly  to  meet  his  betrothed  bride. 
EarnscliiF  followed  more  slowly,  to  guard  against  treach- 
ery. Suddenly  Hobbie  slackened  his  pace  in  the  deepest 
mortification,  while  that  of  Earnsclifi"  was  hastened  by 
impatient  surprise.  It  was  not  Grace  Armstrong,  but 
Miss  Isabella  Vere,  whose  libei'ation  had  been  effected  by 
their  appeai-ance  before  the  tower. 

"  Where  is  Grace  ?  where  is  Grace  Armstrong  ? " 
exclaimed  Hobbie,  in  the  extremity  of  wrath  and  indig- 
nation. 

*  There  is  a  level  meadow  on  the  very  margin  of  the  two  kingdoms, 
called  Turner's-holm,  just  where  the  brook  called  Crissop  joins  the 
Liddel.  It  is  said  to  have  derived  its  name  as  being  a  place  frequently 
assigned  for  tourneys,  during  the  ancient  Border  times. 


104  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  Not  in  my  hands,"  answered  "Westburnflat ;  "  ye  may 
search  the  tower,  if  ye  misdoubt  me." 

"  You  false  villain,  you  shall  account  for  her,  or  die  on 
the  spot,"  said  Elliot,  presenting  his  gun. 

But  his  companions,  who  now  came  up,  instantly  dis- 
armed him  of  his  weapon,  exclaiming,  all  at  once,  "  Hand 
and  glove !  faith  and  troth !  Hand  a  care,  Hobbie ;  we 
maun  keep  our  faith  wi'  Westburnflat,  were  he  the  greatest 
rogue  ever  rode." 

Thus  protected,  the  outlaw  recovered  his  audacity, 
which  had  been  somewhat  daunted  by  the  menacing 
gesture  of  EUiot. 

"  I  have  kept  my  word,  sirs,"  he  said,  "  and  I  look  to 
have  nae  wrang  amang  ye.  If  this  is  no  the  prisoner  ye 
sought,"  he  said,  addressing  EarnsclifF,  "  ye'U  render  her 
back  to  me  again.  I  am  answerable  for  her  to  those  that 
aught  her." 

"  For  God's  sake,  Mi\  Earnscliff,  protect  me ! "  said 
Miss  Vere,  clinging  to  her  deliverer ;  "  do  not  you  aban- 
don one  whom  the  whole  world  seems  to  have  abandoned." 

"  Fear  nothing,"  whispered  Earnscliff,  "  I  will  protect 
you  with  my  life."  Then  turning  to  Westburnflat,  "  Vil- 
lain !  "  he  said,  "  how  dared  you  to  insult  this  lady  ?  " 

"  For  that  matter,  Earnscliff","  answered  the  freebooter, 
"  I  can  answer  to  them  that  has  better  right  to  ask  me 
than  you  have ;  but  if  you  come  with  an  armed  force, 
and  take  her  awa'  from  them  that  her  friends  lodged  her 
wi',  how  will  you  answer  that  ? — But  it's  your  ain  affair — 
Nae  single  man  can  keep  a  tower  against  twenty — A'  the 
men  o'  the  Mearns  downa  do  mair  than  they  dow." 

"  He  lies  most  falsely,"  said  Isabella ;  "  he  carried  me 
off"  by  violence  from  my  father." 

"  Maybe  he  only  wanted  ye  to  think  sae,  hinny,"  replied 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  105 

the  robber ;  "  but  it's  nae  business  o'  mine,  let  it  be  as  it 
may. — So  ye  winna  resign  her  back  to  me  ?  " 

"  Back  to  you,  fellow !  Surely  no,"  answered  Earns- 
cliff;  "I  will  protect  Miss  Vere,  and  escort  her  safely 
wherever  she  is  pleased  to  be  conveyed." 

"  Ay,  ay,  maybe  you  and  her  hae  settled  that  already," 
said  Willie  of  Westburnflat. 

"  And  Grace  ? "  interrupted  Hobbie,  shaking  himself 
loose  from  the  friends  who  had  been  preaching  to  him  the 
sanctity  of  the  safe-conduct,  upon  the  faith  of  which  the 
freebooter  had  ventured  from  his  tower, — "  Where's 
Grace  ?  "  and  he  rushed  on  the  marauder,  sword  in  hand. 

Westburnflat,  thus  pressed,  after  calling  out,  "  Godsake, 
Hobbie,  hear  me  a  gliff ! "  fairly  turned  liis  back  and  fled. 
His  mother  stood  ready  to  open  and  shut  the  grate ;  but 
Hobbie  struck  at  the  freebooter  as  he  entered,  with  so 
much  force,  that  the  sword  made  a  considerable  cleft  in 
the  hntel  of  the  vaulted  door,  which  is  still  shown  as  a 
memorial  of  the  superior  strength  of  those  who  lived  in 
the  days  of  yore.  Ere  Hobbie  could  repeat  the  blow, 
the  door  was  shut  and  secured,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
retreat  to  his  companions,  who  were  now  preparing  to 
break  up  the  siege  of  Westburnflat.  They  insisted  upon 
his  accompanying  them  in  their  return. 

"  Ye  hae  broken  truce  already,"  said  old  Dick  of  the 
Dingle ;  "  an  we  takna  the  better  care,  ye'U  play  mair 
gowk's  tricks,  and  make  yoursell  the  laughing-stock  of 
the  haill  country,  besides  having  your  friends  charged 
with  slaughter  under  trust.  Bide  till  the  meeting  at 
Castleton,  as  ye  hae  greed ;  and  if  he  disna  make  ye 
amends,  then  we'll  hae  it  out  o'  his  heart's  blood.  But 
let  us  gang  reasonably  to  wark  and  keep  our  tryst,  and 
I'se  warrant  we  get  back  Grace,  and  the  kye  an'  a'." 


106  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

This  cold-blooded  reasoning  went  ill  down  with  the 
unfortunate  lover ;  but,  as  he  could  only  obtain  the 
assistance  of  his  neighbours  and  kinsmen  on  their  own 
terms,  he  was  compelled  to  acquiesce  in  their  notions  of 
good  faith  and  regular  procedure. 

Earnscliff  now  requested  the  assistance  of  a  few  of  the 
party  to  convey  Miss  Vere  to  her  father's  castle  of  ElHes- 
law,  to  which  she  was  peremptory  in  desiring  to  be 
conducted.  This  was  readily  granted ;  and  five  or  six 
young  men  agi'eed  to  attend  him  as  an  escort.  Hobbie 
was  not  of  the  number.  Almost  heart-broken  by  the 
events  of  the  day,  and  his  final  disappointment,  he  returned 
moodily  home  to  take  such  measures  as  he  could  for  the 
sustenance  and  protection  of  his  family,  and  to  arrange 
with  his  neighbours  the  farther  steps  which  should  be 
adopted  for  the  recovery  of  Grace  Armstrong.  The 
rest  of  the  party  dispersed  in  different  directions,  as  soon 
as  they  had  crossed  the  morass.  The  outlaw  and  his 
mother  watched  them  from  the  tower,  until  they  entirely 
disappeared. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  107 


CHAPTER  X. 


I  left  my  ladye's  bower  last  night — 
It  was  clad  in  wreaths  of  snaw, — 
I'll  seek  it  when  the  sun  is  bright, 
And  sweet  the  roses  blaw. 

Old  Ballad. 


Incensed  at  what  he  deemed  the  coldness  of  his 
friends,  in  a  cause  which  interested  him  so  nearly,  Hobbie 
had  shaken  himself  free  of  their  company,  and  was  now 
on  his  solitary '  road  homeward.  "The  fiend  founder 
thee ! "  said  he,  as  he  spurred  impatiently  his  over- 
fatigued  and  stumbling  horse  ;  "  thou  art  like  a'  the  rest 
o'  them.  Hae  I  not  bred  thee,  and  fed  thee,  and  dressed 
thee  wi'  mine  ain  hand,  and  wouldst  thou  snapper  now 
and  break  my  neck  at  my  utmost  need  ?  But  thou'rt  e'en 
like  the  lave — the  farthest  off  o'  them  a'  is  my  cousin 
ten  times  removed,  and  day  or  night  I  wad  hae  served 
them  wi'  my  best  blood ;  and  now,  I  think  they  shew 
mair  regard  to  the  common  thief  of  Westburnflat  than 
to  their  ain  kinsman.  But  I  should  see  the  lights  now  in 
Heugh-foot — Wae's  me  !  "  he  continued,  recollecting  him- 
self, "  there  will  neither  coal  nor  candle-light  shine  in  the 
Heugh-foot  ony  mair !  An  it  werena  for  my  mother  and 
sisters,  and  poor  Grace,  I  could  find  in  my  heart  to  set 
spurs  to  the  beast,  and  loup  ower  the  scaur  into  the  water 
to  make  an  end  o't  a'." — In  this  disconsolate  mood  he 


108  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

turned  his  horse's  bridle  towards  the  cottage  in  which  his 
family  had  found  I'efuge. 

As  he  approached  the  door,  he  heard  whispering  and 
tittering  amongst  his  sisters.  "  The  deevil's  in  the 
women,"  said  poor  Hobbie ;  "  they  would  nicker,  and 
laugh,  and  giggle,  if  their  best  friend  was  lying  a  corp — 
and  yet  I  am  glad  they  can  keep  up  their  hearts  sae  weel, 
poor  silly  things ;  but  the  dirdum  fa's  on  me,  to  be  sure, 
and  no  on  them." 

While  he  thus  meditated,  he  was  engaged  in  fastening 
up  his  horse  in  a  shed.  "  Thou  maun  do  without  horse- 
sheet  and  surcingle  now,  lad,"  he  said,  addressing  the 
animal ;  "  you  and  me  hae  had  a  downcome  alike ;  we 
had  better  hae  fa' en  in  the  deepest  pool  o'  Tarras." 

He  was  interrupted  by  the  youngest  of  his  sisters,  who 
came  running  out,  and  speaking  in  a  constrained  voice, 
as  if  to  stifle  some  emotion,  called  out  to  him,  "  What 
are  ye  doing  there,  Hobbie,  fiddling  about  the  naig,  and 
there's  ane  frae  Cumbei'land  been  waiting  here  for  you 
this  hour  and  mair  ?  Haste  ye  in,  man ;  I'll  take  off  the 
saddle." 

"  Ane  frae  Cumberland ! "  exclaimed  Elliot ;  and  put- 
ting the  bridle  of  his  horse  into  the  hand  of  his  sister,  he 
rushed  into  the  cottage.  "  Where  is  he  ?  where  is  he  ?  " 
he  exclaimed,  glancing  eagerly  around,  and  seeing  only 
females  ;  "  Did  he  bring  news  of  Grace  ?  " 

"  He  doughtna  bide  an  instant  langer,"  said  the  elder 
sister,  still  with  a  suppressed  laugh. 

"  Hout  fie,  bairns  ! "  said  the  old  lady,  with  something 
of  a  good-humoured  reproof,  "ye  shouldna  vex  your 
billy  Hobbie  that  way. — Look  round,  my  bairn,  and 
see  if  there  isna  ane  here  mair  than  ye  left  this  morn- 
ing." 


THE    BLACK    DAYARF.  ■■  109 

Hobbie  looked  eagerly  round.  "  There's  you,  and  the 
three  titties." 

"  There's  four  of  us  now,  Hobbie,  lad,"  said  the  young- 
est, who  at  this  moment  entei-ed. 

"  In  an  instant  Hobbie  had  in  his  arms  Grace  Arm- 
strong, who,  with  one  of  his  sister's  plaids  around  her, 
had  passed  unnoticed  at  his  first  entrance.  "  How  dared 
you  do  this  ?  "  said  Hobbie. 

"  It  wasna  my  fault,"  said  Grace,  endeavouring  to  cover 
her  face  with  her  hands  to  hide  at  once  her  blushes,  and 
escape  the  storm  of  hearty  kisses  with  which  her  bride- 
groom punished  her  simple  stratagem, — "It  wasna  my 
fault,  Hobbie  ;  ye  should  kiss  Jeanie  and  the  rest  o'  them, 
for  they  hae  the  wyte  o't." 

"And  so  I  will,"  said  Hobbie,  and  embraced  and  kissed 
his  sisters  and  grandmother  a  hundred  times,  while  the 
whole  party  half-laughed,  half-cried,  in  the  extremity  of 
their  joy.  "  I  am  the  happiest  man,"  said  Hobbie,  throw- 
ing himself  down  on  a  seat  almost  exhausted, — "  I  am 
the  happiest  man  in  the  world  ! " 

"  Then,  O  my  dear  bairn,"  said  the  good  old  dame,  who 
lost  no  opportunity  of  teaching  her  lessons  of  religion  at 
those  moments  when  the  heart  was  best  open  to  receive 
it, — "  Then,  0  my  son,  give  praise  to  Him  that  brings 
smiles  out  o'  tears  and  joy  out  o'  grief,  as  He  brought 
light  out  o'  darkness,  and  the  world  out  o'  naething.  Was 
it  not  my  word,  that  if  ye  could  say  His  wiU  be  done,  ye 
might  hae  cause  to  say  His  name  be  praised  ?  " 

"  It  was — it  was  your  word,  grannie  ;  and  I  do  praise 
Him  for  His  mercy,  and  for  leaving  me  a  good  parent 
when  my  ain  were  gane,"  said  honest  Hobbie,  taking  her 
hand,  "  that  puts  me  in  mind  to  think  of  Him,  baith  in 
happiness  and  distress." 


110  ■  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

There  was  a  solemn  pause  of  one  or  two  minutes 
employed  in  the  exercise  of  mental  devotion,  which 
expressed,  in  purity  and  sincerity,  the  gratitude  of  the 
affectionate  family  to  that  Providence  who  had  unexpect- 
edly restored  to  their  embraces  the  friend  whom  they  had 
lost. 

Hobble's  first  inquiries  were  concerning  the  adventures 
which  Grace  had  undergone.  They  were  told  at  length, 
but  amounted  in  substance  to  this  : — That  she  was 
awaked  by  the  noise  which  the  ruffians  made  in  break- 
ing into  the  house,  and  by  the  resistance  made  by  one  or 
two  of  the  servants,  which  was  soon  overpowered;  that, 
dressing  herself  hastily,  she  ran  down  stairs,  and  having 
seen,  in  the  scuffle,  Westburnflat's  vizard  drop  off,  im- 
prudently named  him  by  his  name,  and  besought  him  for 
mercy ;  that  the  ruffian  instantly  stopped  her  mouth, 
dragged  her  from  the  house,  and  placed  her  on  horseback, 
behind  one  of  his  associates. 

"  I'll  break  the  accursed  neck  of  him,"  said  Hobble,  "  if 
there  werena  another  Graeme  in  the  land  but  himsell ! " 

She  proceeded  to  say,  that  she  was  carried  southward 
along  with  the  party,  and  the  spoil  which  they  drove  be- 
fore them,  until  they  had  crossed  the  Border.  Suddenly  a 
person,  known  to  her  as  a  kinsman  of  Westburnflat,  came 
riding  very  fast  after  the  marauders,  and  told  their  leader, 
that  his  cousin  had  learnt  from  a  sure  hand  that  no  luck 
would  come  of  it,  unless  the  lass  was  restored  to  her 
friends.  After  some  discussion,  the  chief  of  the  party 
seemed  to  acquiesce.  Grace  was  placed  behind  her  new 
guardian,  who  pursued  in  silence,  and  with  great  speed, 
the  least  frequented  path  to  the  Heugh-foot,  and  ere 
evening  closed,  set  down  the  fatigued  and  terrified  damsel 
within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  dwelling  of  her  friends. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  Ill 

Many  and  sincere  were  the  congratulations  which  passed 
on  all  sides. 

As  these  emotions  subsided,  less  pleasing  considerations 
began  to  intrude  themselves. 

"This  is  a  miserable  place  for  ye  a',"  said  Hobbie, 
looking  around  him  ;  "  I  can  sleep  weel  eneugh  mysell 
outby  beside  the  naig,  as  I  hae  done  mony  a  lang  night 
on  the  hills ;  but  how  ye  are  to  put  yoursells  up,  I  canna 
see !  And  what's  waur,  I  canna  mend  it ;  and  what's 
waur  than  a',  the  morn  may  come,  and  the  day  after  that, 
without  your  being  a  bit  better  off." 

"It  was  a  cowardly  cruel  thing,"  said  one  of  the 
sisters,  looking  round,  "  to  harry  a  puir  family  to  the  bare 
wa's  this  gate." 

"  And  leave  us  neither  stirk  nor  stot,"  said  the  youngest 
brother,  who  now  entered,  "  nor  sheep  nor  lamb,  nor 
aught  that  eats  grass  and  corn." 

"If  they  had  ony  quarrel  wi'  us,"  said  Harry,  the 
second  brother,  "  were  we  na  ready  to  have  fought  it  out  ? 
And  that  we  should  have  been  a'  frae  hame,  too, — ane 
and  a'  upon  the  hill — Odd,  an  we  had  been  at  hame,  "Will 
Gneme's  stamach  shouldna  hae  wanted  its  morning ;  but 
it's  biding  him,  is  it  na,  Hobbie  ?**' 

"  Our  neighbours  hae  taen  a  day  at  the  Castleton  to 
gree  wi'  him  at  the  sight  o'  men,"  said  Hobbie,  mourn- 
fiiUy  ;  "  they  behoved  to  have  it  a'  their  ain  gate,  or  there 
was  nae  help  to  be  got  at  their  hands." 

"  To  gree  wi'  him ! "  exclaimed  both  his  brothers  at 
once,  "after  siccan  an  act  of  stouthrife  as  hasna  been 
heard  o'  in  the  country  since  the  auld  riding  days  !  " 

"  Very  true,  billies,  and  my  blood  was  e'en  boilmg  at 

it ;  but tlie  sight  o'  Grace  Armstrong  has  settled  it 

brawly." 


112  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

"  But  the  stocking,  Hobbie  ?  "  said  John  Elliot ;  "  we're 
utterly  ruined.  Harry  and  I  hae  been  to  gather  what 
was  on  the  outby  land,  and  there's  scarce  a  cloot  left.  I 
kenna  how  we're  to  carry  on — We  maun  a'  gang  to  the 
wars,  I  think.  Westburnflat  hasna  the  means,  e'en  if  he 
had  the  will,  to  make  up  our  loss  ;  there's  nae  mends  to 
be  got  out  o'  him,  but  what  ye  take  out  o'  his  banes.  He 
has  na  a  four-footed  creature  but  the  vicious  blood  thing 
he  rides  on,  and  that's  sair  trashed  wi'  his  night  wark. 
We  are  ruined  stoop  and  roop." 

Hobbie  cast  a  mournful  glance  on  Grace  Armstrong, 
who  returned  it  with  a  downcast  look  and  a  gentle  sigh. 

"  Dinna  be  cast  down,  bairns,"  said  the  grandmother, 
"  we  hae  gude  friends  that  winna  forsake  us  in  adversity. 
There's  Sir  Thomas  Kittleloof  is  my  third  cousin  by  the 
mother's  side,  and  he  has  come  by  a  hantle  siller,  and 
been  made  a  knight-baronet  into  the  bargain,  for  being 
ane  o'  the  commissioners  at  the  Union." 

"  He  wadna  gie  a  bodle  to  save  us  frae  famishing," 
said  Hobbie  :  "  and,  if  he  did,  the  bread  that  I  bought 
wi't  would  stick  in  my  throat,  when  I  thought  it  was 
part  of  the  price  of  puir  auld  Scotland's  crown  and  in- 
dependence." 

"  There's  the  Laird  o'  Dunder,  ane  o'  the  auldest  fami- 
lies in  Tiviotdale." 

"  He's  in  the  tolbooth,  mother — he's  in  the  Heart  of 
Mid-Louden  for  a  thousand  merk  he  borrowed  from 
Saunders  Wyliecoat  the  writer." 

"  Poor  man  ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Elliot,  "  can  we  no 
send  him  something,  Hobbie  ?  " 

"  Ye  forget,  grannie,  ye  forget  we  want  help  oursells," 
said  Hobbie,  somewhat  peevishly. 

"  Troth  did  I,  hinny,"  replied  the  good-natured  lady, 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  113 

"just  at  the  instant;  it's  sae  natural  to  think  on  ane's 
blude  relations  before  themsells. — But  there's  youncr 
Earnscliff." 

"  He  has  ower  little  o'  his  ain  ;  and  siccan  a  name  to 
keep  up,  it  wad  be  a  shame,"  said  Hobbie,  "  to  burden 
him  wi'  our  distress.  And  I'll  tell  ye,  grannie,  it's  need- 
less to  sit  rhyming  ower  the  style  of  a'  your  kith,  kin, 
and  allies,  as  if  there  was  a  charm  in  their  braw  names 
to  do  us  good  ;  the  grandees  hae  forgotten  us,  and  those 
of  our  ain  degree  hae  just  little  eneugh  to  gang  on  wi' 
themsells ;  ne'er  a  friend  hae  we  that  can,  or  will,  help 
us  to  stock  the  farm  again." 

"  Then,  Hobbie,  we  maun  trust  in  Him  that  can  raise 
up  friends  and  fortune  out  o'  the  bare  moor,  as  they  say." 

Hobbie  sprung  upon  his  feet.  "Ye  are  right,  grannie!" 
he  exclaimed  ;  "  ye  are  right.  I  do  ken  a  friend  on  the 
bare  moor,  that  baith  can  and  will  help  us — The  turns  o' 
this  day  hae  dung  my  head  clean  hirdie-girdie.  I  left  as 
muckle  gowd  lying  on  Mucklestane-Moor  this  morning  as 
would  plenish  the  house  and  stock  the  Heugh-foot  twice 
ower,  and  I  am  certain  sure  Elshie  wadna  grudge  us  the 
use  of  it." 

"  Elshie  ! "  said  his  grandmother  in  astonishment ; 
"  what  Elshie  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  What  Elshie  should  I  mean,  but  canny  Elshie,  the 
Wight  o'  Mucklestane  ?  "  replied  Hobbie. 

"  God  forfend,  ray  bairn,  you  should  gang  to  fetch 
water  out  o'  broken  cisterns,  or  seek  for  relief  frae  them 
that  deal  wi'  the  Evil  One !  There  was  never  luck  in 
their  gifts,  nor  grace  in  their  paths.  And  the  haill 
country  kens  that  body  Elshie's  an  unco  man.  O,  if 
there  was  the  law,  and  the  douce  quiet  administration  of 
justice,  that  makes  a  kingdom  flourish  in  righteousness, 

VOL.  XI.  8 


114  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

the  like  o'  them  suldna  be  suffered  to  live  !  The  wizard 
and  the  witch  are  the  abomination  and  the  evil  thing  in 
the  land." 

"Troth,  mother,"  answered  Hobbie,  "ye  may  say 
what  ye  like,  but  I  am  in  the  mind  that  witches  and 
warlocks  havena  half  the  power  they  had  lang  syne ;  at 
least,  sure  am  I,  that  ae  ill-deviser,  like  auld  Ellieslaw,  or 
ae  ill-doer,  like  that  d — d  villain  Westburnflat,  is  a 
greater  plague  and  abomination  in  a  country-side  than  a 
haill  curnie  o'  the  warst  witches  that  ever  capered  on  a 
broom-stick,  or  played  cantrips  on  Fastern's  E'en.  It 
wad  hae  been  lang  or  Elshie  had  burnt  down  my  house 
and  barns,  and  I  am  determined  to  try  if  he  will  do  aught 
to  build  them  up  again.  He's  weel  kend  a  skilfu'  man 
ower  a'  the  country,  as  far  as  Brough  under  Stanmore." 

"  Bide  a  wee,  my  bairn  ;  mind  his  benefits  havena 
thriven  wi'  a'  body.  Jock  Howden  died  o'  the  very  same 
disorder  Elshie  pretended  to  cure  him  of,  about  the  fa'  o' 
the  leaf ;  and  though  he  helped  Lambside's  cow  weel  out 
o'  the  moor-ill,  yet  the  louping-ill's  been  sairer  amang  his 
sheep  than  ony  season  before.  And  then  I  have  heard 
he  uses  sic  words  abusing  human  nature,  that's  like  a 
fleeing  in  the  face  of  Providence  ;  and  ye  mind  ye  said 
yoursell,  the  first  time  ye  ever  saw  him,  that  he  was 
mair  like  a  bogle  than  a  living  thing." 

"  Hout,  mother,"  said  Hobbie,  "  Elshie's  no  that  bad  a 
chield  ;  he's  a  grewsome  spectacle  for  a  crooked  disciple, 
to  be  sure,  and  a  rough  talker,  but  his  bark  is  waur  than 
his  bite  ;  sae,  if  I  had  anes  something  to  eat,  for  I  havena 
had  a  morsel  ower  my  throat  this  day,  I  wad  streek  my- 
sell  down  for  twa  or  three  hours  aside  the  beast,  and  be 
on  and  awa  to  Mucklestane  wi'  the  first  skreigh  o' 
morning." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  115 

"And  what  for  no  the  night,  Hobbie,"  said  Harry, 
"  and  I  will  ride  wi'  ye  ?  " 

"  My  naig  is  tired,"  said  Hobbie. 

"  Ye  may  take  mine  then,"  said  John. 

"  But  I  am  a  wee  thing  wearied  mysell." 

"  You  wearied  ?  "  said  Harry ;  "  shame  on  ye  !  I  have 
kend  ye  keep  the  saddle  four-and-twenty  hours  thegither, 
and  ne'er  sic  a  word  as  weariness  in  your  wame." 

"  The  night's  very  dark,"  said  Hobbie,  rising  and  look- 
ing through  the  casement  of  the  cottage  ;  '^  and,  to  speak 
truth,  and  shame  the  deil,  though  Elshie's  a  real  honest 
fallow,  yet  somegate  I  would  rather  take  day-light  wi'  me 
when  I  gang  to  visit  him." 

This  frank  avowal  put  a  stop  to  farther  argument ;  and 
Hobbie,  having  thus  compromised  matters  between  the 
rashness  of  his  bi'other's  counsel,  and  the  timid  cautions 
which  he  received  from  his  grandmother,  refreshed  him- 
self with  such  food  as  the  cottage  aiforded ;  and,  after  a 
cordial  salutation  all  round,  retired  to  the  shed,  and 
stretched  himself  beside  his  trusty  palfrey.  His  brothers 
shared  between  them  some  trusses  of  clean  straw,  dis- 
posed in  the  stall  usually  occupied  by  old  Annaple's  cow ; 
and  the  females  arranged  themselves  for  repose  as  well 
as  the  accommodations  of  the  cottage  would  permit. 

With  the  first  dawn  of  morning,  Hobbie  arose  ;  and, 
having  rubbed  down  and  saddled  his  horse,  he  set  forth 
to  Mucklestane-Moor.  He  avoided  the  company  of 
either  of  his  brothers,  from  an  idea  that  the  Dwarf  was 
most  propitious  to  those  who  visited  him  alone. 

"  The  creature,"  said  he  to  himself,  as  he  went  along, 
"  is  no  neighbourly  ;  ae  body  at  a  time  is  fully  mair  than 
he  weel  can  abide.  I  wonder  if  he's  looked  out  o'  the 
crib  o'  liim  to  gather  up  the  bag  o'  siller.     If  he  hasna 


116  WATERLET   NOVELS. 

done  that,  it  will  hae  been  a  braw  windfa'  for  somebody, 
and  I'll  be  finely  flung.  Come,  Tarras,"  said  he  to  his 
horse,  striking  him  at  the  same  time  with  his  spur,  "  make 
mair  fit,  man  ;  we  maun  be  first  on  the  field  if  we  can." 

He  was  now  on  the  heath,  which  began  to  be  illumi- 
nated by  the  beams  of  the  rising  sun  ;  the  gentle  declivity 
which  he  was  descending  presented  him  a  distinct,  though 
distant  view  of  the  Dwarf's  dwelling.  The  door  opened, 
and  Hobble  witnessed  with  his  own  eyes  that  phenom- 
enon which  he  had  frequently  heard  mentioned.  Two 
human  figures,  (if  that  of  the  Dwarf  could  be  termed 
such)  issued  from  the  solitary  abode  of  the  Recluse,  and 
stood  as  if  in  converse  together  in  the  open  air.  The 
taller  form  then  stooped,  as  if  taking  something  up  which 
lay  beside  the  door  of  the  hut,  then  both  moved  forwai'd 
a  little  way,  and  again  halted,  as  in  deep  conference.  All 
Hobble's  superstitious  terrors  revived  on  witnessing  this 
spectacle.  That  the  Dwarf  would  open  his  dwelling  to  a 
mortal  guest,  was  as  improbable  as  that  any  one  would 
choose  voluntarily  to  be  his  nocturnal  visitor ;  and,  under 
full  conviction  that  he  beheld  a  wizard  holding  intercourse 
with  his  familiar  spirit,  Hobble  pulled  in  at  once  his 
breath  and  his  bridle,  resolved  not  to  incur  the  indigna- 
tion of  either  by  a  hasty  intrusion  on  their  conference. 
They  were  probably  aware  of  his  approach,  for  he  had 
not  halted  for  a  moment  before  the  Dwarf  returned  to 
his  cottage ;  and  the  taller  figure  who  had  accompanied 
him,  glided  round  the  enclosure  of  the  garden,  and 
seemed  to  disappear  from  the  eyes  of  the  admiring 
Hobble. 

"  Saw  ever  mortal  the  like  o'  that !  "  said  Elliot ;  "  but 
my  case  is  desperate,  sae,  if  he  were  Beelzebub  himsell, 
I'se  venture  down  the  brae  on  him." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  117 

Yet,  notwithstanding  his  assumed  courage,  he  slackened 
his  pace,  when,  nearly  upon  the  very  spot  where  he  had 
last  seen  the  tall  figure,  he  discerned,  as  if  lurking  among 
the  long  heather,  a  small  black  rough-looking  object,  like 
a  terrier  dog. 

"  He  has  nae  dog  that  ever  I  heard  of,"  said  Hobbie, 
"  but  mony  a  deil  about  his  hand — Lord  forgie  me  for 
saying  sic  a  word  ! — It  keeps  its  grund,  be  what  it  like — 
I'm  judging  it's  a  badger ;  but  whae  kens  what  shapes 
thae  bogles  will  take  to  fright  a  body  ?  it  will  maybe  start 
up  like  a  lion  or  a  crocodile  when  I  come  nearer.  I'se 
e'en  drive  a  stane  at  it,  for  if  it  change  its  shape  when  I'm 
ower  near,  Tarras  will  never  stand  it ;  and  it  will  be  ower 
muckle  to  hae  him  and  the  deil  to  fight  wi'  baith  at  ance." 

He  therefore  cautiously  threw  a  stone  at  the  object, 
which  continued  motionless.  "  It's  nae  living  thing,  after 
a',"  said  Hobbie,  approaching,  "  but  the  very  bag  o'  siller 
he  flung  out  o'  the  window  yesterday !  and  that  other 
queer  lang  creature  has  just  brought  it  sae  muckle  farther 
on  the  way  to  me."  He  then  advanced  and  lifted  the 
heavy  fur  pouch,  which  was  quite  full  of  gold.  "  Mercy 
on  us  !  "  said  Hobbie,  whose  heart  fluttered  between  glee 
at  the  revival  of  his  hopes  and  prospects  in  life,  and  sus- 
picion of  the  purpose  for  which  this  assistance  was  afibrded 
him.  "  Mercy  on  us !  it's  an  awfu'  thing  to  touch  what 
has  been  sae  lately  in  the  claws  of  something  no  canny. 
I  canna  shake  mysell  loose  o'  the  belief  that  there  has 
been  some  jookery  paukery  of  Satan's  in  a'  this ;  but  I 
am  determined  to  conduct  mysell  like  an  honest  man  and 
a  good  Christian,  come  o't  what  will." 

He  advanced  accordingly  to  the  cottage  door,  and  hav- 
ing knocked  repeatedly  without  receiving  any  answer,  he 
at  length  elevated  his  voice  and  addressed  the  inmate  of 


118  ■WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

the  hut.  "  Elshie  !  Father  Elshie  !  I  ken  ye're  within 
doors,  and  wauking,  for  I  saw  ye  at  the  door-cheek  as  I 
cam  ower  the  bent ;  will  je  come  out  and  speak  just  a 
gliff  to  ane  that  has  mony  thanks  to  gie  ye  ? — It  was  a' 
true  ye  tell'd  me  about  Westburnflat ;  but  he's  sent  back 
Grace  safe  and  skaithless,  sae  there's  nae  ill  happened  yet 
but  what  may  be  suffered  or  sustained.  Wad  ye  but  come 
out  a  gliff,  man,  or  but  say  ye're  listening  ?  Aweel,  since 
ye  winna  answer,  I'se  e'en  proceed  wi'  my  tale.  Ye  see 
I  hae  been  thinking  it  wad  be  a  sair  thing  on  twa  young 
folk,  like  Grace  and.  me,  to  put  aff  our  marriage  for  mony 
years  till  I  was  abroad  and  came  back  again  wi'  some 
gear ;  and  they  say  folk  maunna  take  booty  in  the  wars  as 
they  did  lang  syne,  and  the  queen's  pay  is  a  sma'  mat- 
ter ;  there's  nae  gathering  gear  on  that — and  then  my 
grandame's  auld — and  my  sisters  wad  sit  peengin'  at  the 
ingle-side  for  want  o'  me  to  ding  them  about — and  Earns- 
cliff,  or  the  neighbourhood,  or  maybe  your  ain  sell,  Elshie, 
might  want  some  good  turn  that  Hob  Elliot  could  do  ye — 
and  it's   a  pity  that  the  auld  house  o'  the   Heugh-foot 

should  be  wrecked  a'thegither.     Sae  I  was  thinking 

but  deil  hae  me,  that  I  should  say  sae,"  continued  he, 
checking  himself,  "  if  I  can  bring  myseU  to  ask  a  favour 
of  ane  that  winna  sae  muckle  as  ware  a  word  on  me,  to 
tell  me  if  he  hears  me  speaking  till  him." 

"  Say  what  thou  wilt — do  what  thou  wilt,"  answered 
the  Dwarf  from  his  cabin,  "  but  begone,  and  leave  me  at 
peace." 

"  Weel,  weel,"  replied  Elliot,  "  sinqe  ye  are  willing  to 
hear  me,  I'se  make  my  tale  short.  Since  ye  are  sae  kind 
as  to  say  ye  are  content  to  lend  me  as  muckle  siller  as 
will  stock  and  plenish  the  Heugh-foot,  I  am  content,  on 
my  part,  to  accept  the  courtesy  wi'  mony'  kind  thanks ; 


THE    BLACK   DWARF.  119 

and  troth,  I  think  it  will  be  as  safe  in  my  hands  as  yours, 
if  ye  leave  it  flung  about  in  that  gate  for  the  first  loon 
body  to  lift,  forbye  the  risk  o'  bad  neighbours  that  can  win 
through  steekit  doors  and  lockfast  places,  as  I  can  tell  to 
my  cost.  I  say,  since  ye  hae  sae  muckle  consideration 
for  me,  I'se  be  blithe  to  accept  your  kindness  ;  and  my 
mother  and  me  (she's  a  liferenter,  and  I  am  fiar,  o'  the 
lands  o'  Wideopen)  would  grant  you  a  wadset,  or  an 
heritable  bond,  for  the  siller,  and  to  pay  the  annual-rent 
half-yearly ;  and  Saunders  Wyliecoat  to  draw  the  bond, 
and  you  to  be. at  nae  charge  wi'  the  writings." 

"Cut  short  thy  jargon,  and  begone,"  said  the  Dwarf; 
"  thy  loquacious  bull-headed  honesty  makes  thee  a  more 
intolerable  plague  than  the  light-fingered  courtier  who 
would  take  a  man's  all  without  troubling  him  with  either 
thanks,  explanation,  or  apology.  Hence,  I  say,  thou  art 
one  of  those  tame  slaves  whose  word  is  as  good  as  their 
bond.  Keep  the  money,  principal  and  interest,  until  I 
demand  it  of  thee." 

"  But,"  continued  the  pertinacious  Borderer,  "  we  are 
a'  life-like  and  death-like,  Elshie,  and  there  really  should 
be  some  black  and  white  on  this  transaction.  Sae  just 
make  me  a  minute,  or  missive,  in  ony  form  ye  like,  and 
I'se  write  it  fair  ower,  and  subscribe  it  before  famous 
witnesses.  Only,  Elshie,  I  wad  wuss  ye  to  pit  naething 
in't  that  may  be  prejudicial  to  my  salvation ;  for  I'll  hae 
the  minister  to  read  it  ower,  and  it  wad  only  be  exposing 
yoursell  to  nae  purpose.  And  now  I'm  ganging  awa,  for 
ye'U  be  wearied  o'  my  cracks,  and  I  am  wearied  wi'  crack- 
ing without  an  answer — and  I'se  bring  ye  a  bit  o'  bride's- 
cake  ane  o'  thae  days,  and  maybe  bring  Grace  to  see  you. 
Ye  wad  hke  to  see  Grace,  man,  for  as  dour  as  ye  are — 
Eh,  Lord !  I  wish  he  may  be  weel,  that  was  a  sair  grane ! 


120  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

or,  maybe  he  thought  I  was  speaking  of  heavenly  grace, 
and  no  of  Grace  Armstrong.  Poor  man,  I  am  very 
doubtfu'  o'  his  condition  ;  but  I  am  sure  he  is  as  kind  to 
me  as  if  I  were  his  son,  and  a  queer-looking  father  I  wad 
hae  had,  if  that  had  been  e'en  sae." 

Hobbie  now  relieved  his  benefactor  of  his  presence, 
and  rode  bhthely  home  to  display  his  treasure,  and  con- 
sult upon  the  means  of  repairing  the  damage  which  his 
fortune  had  sustained  through  the  aggression  of  the  Red 
Reiver  of  Westburnflat. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  121 


CHAPTER  XL 

Three  ruffians  seized  me  yester  mom, 

Alas  1  a  maiden  most  forlorn  ; 

They  choked  my  cries  with  wicked  might, 

And  bound  me  on  a  palfrey  white : 

As  sure  as  Heaven  shall  pity  me, 

I  cannot  tell  what  men  they  be. 

Christabelle. 

The  course  of  our  story  must  here  revert  a  little,  to 
detail  the  circumstances  which  had  placed  Miss  Vere  in 
the  unpleasant  situation  from  which  she  was  unexpectedly, 
and  indeed  unintentionally  liberated,  by  the  appearance 
of  Earnscliff  and  Elliot,  with  their  friends  and  followers, 
before  the  Tower  of  Westburnfiat. 

On  the  morning  preceding  the  night  in  which  Hobble's 
house  was  plundered  and  burnt,  Miss  Vere  was  requested 
by  her  father  to  accompany  him  in  a  walk  through  a  dis- 
tant part  of  the  romantic  grounds  which  lay  round  his 
castle  of  Ellieslaw.  "  To  hear  was  to  obey,"  in  the  true 
style  of  Oriental  despotism ;  but  Isabella  trembled  in 
silence  while  she  followed  her  father  through  rough  paths, 
now  winding  by  the  side  of  the  river,  now  ascending  the 
cliffs  which  serve  for  its  banks.  A  single  servant,  selected 
perhaps  for  his  stupidity,  was  the  only  person  who  attended 
them.  From  her  father's  silence,  Isabella  little  doubted 
that  he  had  chosen  this  distant  and  sequestered  scene  to 
resume  the  argument  which  they  had  so  frequently  main- 


122  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

tained  upon  the  subject  of  Sir  Frederick's  addresses,  and 
that  he  was  meditating  in  what  manner  he  should  most 
effectually  impress  upon  her  the  necessity  of  receiving 
him  as  her  suitor.  But  her  fears  seemed  for  some  time 
to  be  unfounded.  The  only  sentences  which  her  father 
from  time  to  time  addressed  to  her,  respected  the  beauties 
of  the  romantic  landscape  through  which  they  strolled, 
and  which  varied  its  features  at  every  step.  To  these 
observations,  although  they  seemed  to  come  from  a  heart 
occupied  by  more  gloomy  as  well  as  more  important  cares, 
Isabella  endeavoured  to  answer  in  a  manner  as  free  and 
unconstrained  as  it  was  possible  for  her  to  assume,  amid 
the  involuntary  apprehensions  which  crowded  upon  her 
imagination. 

Sustaining  with  mutual  difficulty  a  desultory  conversa- 
tion, they  at  length  gained  the  centre  of  a  small  wood, 
composed  of  large  oaks,  intermingled  with  birches,  moun- 
tain-ashes, hazel,  holly,  and  a  variety  of  underwood.  The 
boughs  of  the  tall  trees  met  closely  above,  and  the  under- 
wood filled  up  each  interval  between  their  trunks  below. 
The  spot  on  which  they  stood  was  rather  more  open ; 
still,  however,  embowered  under  the  natural  arcade  of 
tall  trees,  and  darkened  on  the  sides  for  a  space  around 
by  a  great  and  lively  growth  of  copse-wood  and  bushes. 

"  And  here,  Isabella,"  said  Mr.  Vere,  as  he  pursued 
the  conversation,  so  often  resumed,  so  often  dropped, 
"  here  I  would  erect  an  altar  to  Friendship." 

"  To  Friendship,  sir  ! "  said  Miss  Vere  ;  "  and  why 
on  this  gloomy  and  sequestered  spot,  rather  than  else- 
where ?  " 

"  O,  the  propriety  of  the  locale  is  easily  vindicated," 
replied  her  father,  with  a  sneer.  "  You  know.  Miss 
Vere,  (for  you,  I  am  well  aware,  are  a  learned  young 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  123 

lady,)  you  know,  that  the  Romans  were  not  satisfied  with 
embodying,  for  the  purpose  of  worship,  each  useful 
quality  and  moral  virtue  to  which  they  could  give  a 
name ;  but  they,  moreover,  worshipped  the  same  under 
each  variety  of  titles  and  attributes  which  could  give  a 
distinct  shade,  or  individual  character,  to  the  virtue  in 
question.  Now,  for  example,  the  Friendship  to  whom  a 
temple  should  be  here  dedicated,  is  not  Mascuhne  Friend- 
ship, which  abhors  and  despises  duphcity,  art,  and  dis- 
guise ;  but  Female  Friendsliip,  which  consists  in  little  else 
than  a  mutual  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  friends,  as 
they  call  themselves,  to  abet  each  other  in  obscui-e  fraud 
and  petty  intrigue." 

"  You  are  severe  sir,"  said  Miss  Vere. 

"  Only  just,"  said  her  father  ;  "  a  humble  copier  I  am 
from  nature,  with  the  advantage  of  contemplating  two 
such  excellent  studies  as  Lucy  Uderton  and  your- 
self." 

"  If  I  have  been  unfortunate  enough  to  offend,  sir,  I 
can  conscientiously  excuse  Miss  Uderton  from  being  either 
my  counsellor  or  confidant." 

"  Indeed  !  how  came  you,  then,"  said  Mr.  Vere,  "  by 
the  flippancy  of  speech,  and  pertness  of  argument,  by 
which  you  have  disgusted  Sir  Frederick,  and  given  me 
of  late  such  deep  offence  ?  " 

"  If  my  manner  has  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  displease 
you,  sir,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  apologize  too  deeply, 
or  too  sincerely  ;  but  I  cannot  confess  the  same  contrition 
for  having  answered  Sir  Frederick  flippantly  when  he 
pressed  me  rudely.  Since  he  forgot  I  was  a  lady,  it  was 
time  to  show  him  that  I  am  at  least  a  woman." 

"  Reserve,  then,  your  pertness  for  those  who  press  you 
on  the  topic,  Isabella,"  said  her  father,  coldly ;  "  for  my 


124  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

part,  I  am  weary  of  the  subject,  and  will  never  speak  upoa 
it  again." 

"  God  bless  you,  my  dear  father,"  said  Isabella,  seizing 
his  reluctant  hand ;  "  there  is  nothing  you  can  impose  on 
me,  save  the  task  of  listening  to  this  man's  persecution, 
that  I  will  call,  or  think,  a  hardship." 

"  You  are  very  obliging,  Miss  Vere,  when  it  happens 
to  suit  you  to  be  dutiful,"  said  her  unrelenting  father, 
forcing  himself  at  the  same  time  from  the  affectionate 
grasp  of  her  hand ;  "  but  henceforward,  child,  I  shall 
save  myself  the  trouble  of  offering  you  unpleasant  advice 
on  any  topic.     You  must  look  to  yourself." 

At  this  moment  four  ruffians  rushed  upon  them.  Mr. 
Vere  and  his  servant  drew  their  hangers,  which  it  was 
the  fashion  of  the  time  to  wear,  and  attempted  to  defend 
themselves  and  protect  Isabella.  But  while  each  of  them 
was  engaged  by  an  antagonist,  she  was  forced  into  the 
thicket  by  the  two  remaining  villains,  who  placed  her  and 
themselves  on  horses  which  stood  ready  behind  the  copse- 
wood.  They  mounted  at  the  same  time,  and,  placing  her 
between  them,  set  off  at  a  I'ound  gallop,  holding  the  reins 
of  her  horse  on  each  side.  By  many  an  obscure  and 
winding  path,  over  dale  and  down,  through  moss  and 
moor,  she  was  conveyed  to  the  Tower  of  Westburnflat, 
where  she  remained  strictly  watched,  but  not  otherwise 
ill-treated,  under  the  guardianship  of  the  old  woman,  to 
whose  son  that  retreat  belonged. — No  entreaties  could 
prevail  upon  the  hag  to  give  Miss  Vere  any  information 
on  the  object  of  her  being  carried  forcibly  off,  and  con- 
fined in  this  secluded  place.  The  arrival  of  Earnscliff, 
with  a  strong  party  of  horsemen,  before  the  tower, 
alarmed  the  robber.  As  he  had  already  directed  Grace 
Armstrong  to  be  restored  to  her  friends,  it  did  not  occur 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  125 

to  him  that  this  unwelcome  visit  was  on  her  account ;  and 
seeing  at  the  head  of  the  party,  Earnscliff,  whose  attach- 
ment to  Miss  Vere  was  whispered  in  the  country,  he 
doubted  not  that  her  hberation  was  the  sole  object  of  the 
attack  upon  his  fastness.  The  dread  of  personal  conse- 
quences compelled  him  to  deliver  up  his  prisoner  in  the 
manner  we  have  already  related. 

At  the  moiiient  the  tramp  of  horses  was  heard  which 
carried  off  the  daughter  of  EUieslaw,  her  father  fell  to 
the  earth,  and  his  servant,  a  stout  young  fellow,  who  was 
gaining  ground  on  the  ruffian  with  whom  he  had  been 
engaged,  left  the  combat  to  come  to  his  master's  assist- 
ance, little  doubting  that  he  had  received  a  mortal  wound. 
Both  the  villains  immediately  desisted  from  farther  com- 
bat, and,  retreating  into  the  thicket,  mounted  their  horses, 
and  went  off  at  full  speed  after  their  companions.  Mean- 
time, Dixon  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  Mr.  Vere  not  only 
alive,  but  unwounded.  He  had  overreached  himself,  and 
stumbled,  it  seemed,  over  the  root  of  a  tree,  in  making 
too  eager  a  blow  at  his  antagonist.  The  despair  he  felt 
at  his  daughter's  disappearance,  was,  in  Dixon's  phrase, 
such  as  would  have  melted  the  heart  of  a  whin  stane,  and 
he  was  so  much  exhausted  by  his  feelings,  and  the  vain 
researches  which  he  made  to  discover  the  track  of  the 
ravishers,  that  a  considerable  time  elapsed  ere  he  reached 
home,  and  communicated  the  alarm  to  his  domestics. 

All  his  conduct  and  gestures  were  those  of  a  desperate 
man. 

"  Speak  not  to  me,  Sir  Frederick,"  he  said  impatiently ; 
"  you  are  no  father — she  was  my  child,  an  ungrateful  one 
I  fear,  but  still  my  child — my  only  child.  Where  is 
Miss  Ilderton  ?  she  must  know  something  of  this.  It 
corresponds  with  what  I  was  informed  of  her  schemes. 


126  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Go,  Dixon,  call  RatclifFe  here. — Let  him  come  without  a 
minute's  delay." 

The  person  he  had  named  at  this  moment  entered  the 
room. 

"  I  say,  Dixon,"  continued  Mr.  Vere,  in  an  altered 
tone,  "  let  Mr.  Ratcliffe  know,  I  beg  the  favour  of  his 
company  on  particular  business. — Ah !  my  dear  sir,"  he 
proceeded,  as  if  noticing  him  for  the  first  time,  "  you  are 
the  very  man  whose  advice  can  be  of  the  utmost  service 
to  me  in  this  cruel  extremity." 

"  What  has  happened,  Mr.  Vere,  to  discompose  you  ?  " 
said  Mr.  Ratcliffe,  gravely;  and  while  the  Laird  of 
Ellieslaw  details  to  him,  with  the  most  animated  gestures 
of  grief  and  indignation,  the  singular  adventure  of  the 
morning,  we  shall  take  the  opportunity  to  inform  our 
readers  of  the  relative  circumstances  in  which  these 
gentlemen  stood  to  each  other. 

In  early  youth,  Mr.  Vere  of  Ellieslaw  had  been  re- 
markable for  a  career  of  dissipation,  which,  in  advanced 
life,  he  had  exchanged  for  the  no  less  destructive  career 
of  dark  and  turbulent  ambition.  In  both  cases  he  had 
gratified  the  predominant  passion  without  respect  to  the 
diminution  of  his  private  fortune,  although,  where  such 
inducements  were  wanting,  he  was  deemed  close,  avari- 
cious, and  grasping.  His  affairs  being  much  embarrassed 
by  his  earher  extravagance,  he  went  to  England,  where 
he  was  understood  to  have  formed  a  very  advantageous 
matrimonial  connexion.  He  was  many  years  absent  from 
his  family  estate.  Suddenly  and  unexpectedly  he  re- 
turned a  widower,  bringing  with  him  his  daughter,  then  a 
girl  of  about  ten  years  old.  From  this  moment  his  ex- 
pense seemed  unbounded,  in  the  eyes  of  the  simple 
inhabitants  of  his  native  mountains.      It  was  supposed 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  127 

he  must  necessarily  have  plunged  himself  deeply  in  debt. 
Yet  he  continued  to  live  in  the  same  lavish  expense, 
until  some  months  before  the  commencement  of  our 
narrative,  when  the  public  opinion  of  his  embarrassed 
circumstances  was  confirmed,  by  the  residence  of  Mr. 
RatclifFe  at  Ellieslaw  Castle,  who,  by  the  tacit  consent, 
though  obviously  to  the  great  displeasure,  of  the  lord  of 
the  mansion,  seemed,  from  the  moment  of  his  an-ival,  to 
assume  and  exercise  a  predominant  and  unaccountable 
influence  in  the  management  of  his  private  affairs. 

Mr.  Ratcliffe  was  a  grave,  steady,  reserved  man,  in  an 
advanced  period  of  life.  To  those  with  whom  he  had 
occasion  to  speak  upon  business,  he  appeared  uncom- 
monly well  versed  in  all  its  forms.  With  others  he  held 
little  communication ;  but  in  any  casual  intercourse  or 
conversation,  displayed  the  powers  of  an  active  and  well- 
informed  mind.  For  some  time  before  taking  up  his 
final  residence  at  the  castle,  he  had  been  an  occasional 
visitor  there,  and  was  at  such  times  treated  by  Mr.  Vere 
(contrary  to  his  general  practice  towards  those  who  were 
inferior  to  him  in  rank)  with  marked  attention,  and  even 
deference.  Yet  his  arrival  always  appeared  to  be  an 
embarrassment  to  his  host,  and  his  departure  a  relief;  so 
that,  when  he  became  a  constant  inmate  of  the  family,  it 
was  impossible  not  to  observe  indications  of  the  dis- 
pleasure with  which  Mr.  Vere  regarded  his  presence. 
Indeed,  their  intercourse  formed  a  singular  mixture  of 
confidence  and  constraint.  Mr.  Vere's  most  important 
affairs  were  regulated  by  Mr.  Ratcliffe  ;  and  although  he 
was  none  of  those  indulgent  men  of  fortune,  who,  too 
indolent  to  manage  their  own  business,  are  glad  to  de- 
volve it  upon  another,  yet,  in  many  instances,  he  was 
observed  to  give  up  his  own  judgment,  and  submit  to  the 


128  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

contrary  opinions  which  Mr.  Ratcliffe  did  not  hesitate 
distinctly  to  express. 

Nothing  seemed  to  vex  Mr.  Vere  more  than  when 
strangers  indicated  any  observation  of  the  state  of  tutelage 
under  which  he  appeared  to  labour.  When  it  was  noticed 
by  Sir  Frederick,  or  any  of  his  intimates,  he  sometimes 
repelled  their  remarks  haughtily  and  indignantly,  and 
sometimes  endeavoured  to  evade  them,  by  saying,  with  a 
forced  laugh,  "  That  RatcliflFe  knew  his  own  importance, 
but  that  he  was  the  most  honest  and  skilful  fellow  in  the 
woi'ld ;  and  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  manage 
his  English  affairs  without  his  advice  and  assistance." 
Such  was  the  person  who  entered  the  room  at  the  mo- 
ment Mr.  Vere  was  summoning  him  to  his  presence,  and 
who  now  heard  with  surprise,  mingled  with  obvious  incre- 
dulity, the  hasty  narrative  of  what  had  befallen  Isabella. 

Her  father  concluded,  addressing  Sir  Frederick  and 
the  other  gentlemen,  who  stood  around  in  astonishment, 
"  And  now,  my  friends,  you  see  the  most  unhappy  father 
in  Scotland.  Lend  me  your  assistance,  gentlemen — give 
me  your  advice,  Mr.  Ratcliffe.  I  am  incapable  of  acting, 
or  thinking,  under  the  unexpected  violence  of  such  a 
blow." 

"  Let  us  take  our  horses,  call  our  attendants,  and  scour 
the  country  in  pursuit  of  the  villains,"  said  Sir  Frederick. 

"  Is  there  no  one  whom  you  can  suspect,"  said  Rat- 
cliffe, gravely,  "  of  having  some  motive  for  this  strange 
crime  ?  These  are  not  the  days  of  romance,  when  ladies 
are  carried  off  merely  for  their  beauty." 

"  I  fear,"  said  Mr.  Vere,  "  I  can  too  well  account  for 
this  strange  incident.  Read  this  letter,  which  Miss  Lucy 
Ilderton  thought  fit  to  address  from  my  house  of  EUies- 
law  to  young  Mr.  Earnscliff,  whom,  of  all  men,  I  have  a 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  129 

hereditary  right  to  call  my  enemy.  You  see  she  writes 
to  him  as  the  confidant  of  a  passion  which  he  has  the 
assurance  to  entertain  for  my  daughter;  tells  him  she 
serves  his  cause  with  her  friend  very  ardently,  but  that 
he  has  a  friend  in  the  garrison  who  serves  him  yet  more 
effectually.  Look  particularly  at  the  pencilled  passages, 
Mr.  Ratcliffe,  where  this  meddling  girl  recommends  bold 
measures,  with  an  assurance  that  his  suit  would  be  suc- 
cessful anywhere  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  barony  of 
Ellieslaw." 

"  And  you  argue,  from  this  romantic  letter  of  a  very 
romantic  young  lady,  Mr.  Vere,"  said  Ratcliffe,  "that 
young  Eamscliff  has  carried  off  your  daughter,  and  com- 
mitted a  very  great  and  criminal  act  of  violence,  on  no 
better  advice  and  assurance  than  that  of  Miss  Lucy 
Ilderton  ?  " 

"  What  else  can  I  think  ?  "  said  Ellieslaw. 

"  What  else  can  you  think  ?  "  said  Sir  Frederick  ;  "  or 
who  else  could  have  any  motive  for  committing  such  a 
crime  ?  " 

"Were  that  the  best  mode  of  fixing  the  guilt,"  said 
Mr.  Ratcliffe,  calmly,  "  there  might  easily  be  pointed  out 
persons  to  whom  such  actions  are  more  congenial,  and 
who  have  also  sufficient  motives  of  instigation.  Sup- 
posing it  were  judged  advisable  to  remove  Miss  Vere  to 
some  place  in  which  constraint  might  be  exercised  upon 
her  mclinations  to  a  degree  which  cannot  at  present  be 
attempted  under  the  roof  of  Ellieslaw  Castle — What  says 
Sir  Frederick  Langley  to  that  supposition  ?  " 

"  I  say,"  returned  Sir  Frederick,  "  that  although  Jilr. 
Vere  may  choose  to  endure  in  Mr.  Ratcliffe  freedoms 
totally  inconsistent  with  his  situation  in  life,  I  will  not 


130  TVAVERLET    NOVELS. 

permit  such  license  of  innuendo,  by  word  or  look,  to  be 
extended  to  me,  with  impunity." 

"  And  I  say,"  said  young  Mareschal  of  Mareschal- 
Wells,  who  was  also  a  guest  at  the  castle,  "  that  you  are 
all  stark-mad  to  be  standing  wrangling  here,  instead  of 
going  in  pursuit  of  the  ruffians." 

"  I  have  ordered  off  the  domestics  already  in  the  track 
most  hkely  to  overtake  them,"  said  Mr,  Vere ;  "  if  you 
will  favour  me  with  your  company,  we  will  follow  them, 
and  assist  in  the  search." 

The  efforts  of  the  party  were  totally  unsuccessful, 
probably  because  Ellieslaw  directed  the  pursuit  to  pro- 
ceed in  the  direction  of  Earnscliff-tower,  under  the  sup- 
position that  the  owner  would  prove  to  be  the  author  of 
the  violence,  so  that  they  followed  in  a  direction  diamet- 
rically opposite  to  that  in  which  the  ruffians  had  actually 
proceeded.  In  the  evening  they  returned,  harassed,  and 
out  of  spirits.  But  other  guests  had,  in  the  meanwhile, 
arrived  at  the  castle  ;  and,  after  the  recent  loss  sustained 
by  the  owner  had  been  related,  wondered  at,  and  lamented, 
the  recollection  of  it  was,  for  the  present,  drowned  in  the 
discussion  of  deep  political  intrigues,  of  which  the  crisis 
and  explosion  were  momentarily  looked  for. 

Several  of  the  gentlemen  who  took  part  in  this  divan 
were  Catholics,  and  all  of  them  stanch  Jacobites,  whose 
hopes  were  at  present  at  the  highest  pitch,  as  an  invasion, 
in  favor  of  the  Pretender,  was  daily  expected  from 
France,  which  Scotland,  between  the  defenceless  state  of 
its  garrisons  and  fortified  places,  and  the  general  disaf- 
fection of  the  inhabitants,  was  rather  prepared  to  wel- 
come than  to  resist.  Ratcliffe,  who  neither  sought  to 
assist  at  their  consultations  on  this  subject,  nor  was 
invited   to  do  so,  had,  in  the  meanwhile,  retired  to  his 


THE   BLACK    DWARF.  131 

own  apartment.  Miss  Ederton  was  sequestered  from 
society  in  a  sort  of  honourable  confinement,  "  until,"  said 
Mr.  Vere,  "  she  should  be  safely  conveyed  home  to  her 
father's  house,"  an  opportunity  for  which  occurred  on  the 
following  day. 

The  domestics  could  not  help  thinking  it  remarkable 
how  soon  the  loss  of  Miss  Vere,  and  the  strange  manner 
in  which  it  had  happened,  seemed  to  be  forgotten  by  the 
other  guests  at  the  castle.  They  knew  not,  that  those 
the  most  interested  in  her  fate  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  cause  of  her  being  carried  off",  and  the  place  of  her 
retreat ;  and  that  the  others,  in  the  anxious  and  doubtful 
moments  which  preceded  the  breaking  forth  of  a  con- 
spiracy, were  little  accessible  to  any  feelings  but  what 
arose  immediately  out  of  their  own  machinations. 


132  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Some  one  way,  some  another — ^Do  you  know 
Where  we  may  apprehend  her? 


The  researches  after  Miss  Vere  were  (for  the  sake  of 
appearances,  perhaps)  resumed  on  the  succeedmg  day, 
with  similar  bad  success,  and  the  party  were  returning 
towards  EUieslaw  in  the  evening. 

"  It  is  singular,"  said  Mareschal  to  Ratcliffe,  "  that  four 
horsemen  and  a  female  prisoner  should  have  passed 
through  the  country  without  leaving  the  slightest  trace  of 
their  passage.  One  would  think  they  had  traversed  the 
air,  or  sunk  through  the  ground." 

"  Men  may  often,"  answered  Ratcliffe,  "  arrive  at  the 
knowledge  of  that  which  is,  from  discovering  that  which 
is  not.  We  have  now  scoured  every  road,  path,  and  track 
leading  from  the  castle,  in  all  the  various  points  of  the 
compass,  saving  only  that  intricate  and  difficult  pass 
which  leads  southward  down  the  Westbui'n,  and  through 
the  morasses." 

"  And  why  have  we  not  examined  that  ?  "  said  Mare- 
schal. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Vere  can  best  answer  that  question,"  replied 
his  companion,  dryly. 

"  Then  I  will  ask  it  instantly,"  said  Mareschal ;  and, 
addressing  Mr.  Vere,  "  I   am  informed,  sir,"  said  he, 


THE    BLACK   DWARF.  133 

"  there  is  a  path  we  have  not  examined,  leading  by  West- 
burnflat." 

"  Oh,"  said  Sir  Frederick,  laughing,  "  we  know  the 
owner  of  Westburnflat  well — a  wild  lad,  that  knows  little 
difference  between  his  neighbour's  goods  and  his  own; 
but,  withal,  very  honest  to  his  principles :  He  would  dis- 
turb nothing  belonging  to  Ellieslaw." 

"  Besides,"  said  Mr.  Vere,  smiling  mysteriously,  "  he 
had  other  tow  on  his  distaff  last  night.  Have  you  not 
heard  young  Elliot  of  the  Heugh-foot  has  had  his  house 
burnt,  and  his  cattle  driven  away,  because  he  refused  to 
give  up  his  arms  to  some  honest  men  that  think  of  start- 
ing for  the  king  ?  " 

The  company  smiled  upon  each  other,  as  at  hearing  of 
an  exploit  which  favoured  their  own  views. 

"  Yet,  nevertheless,"  resumed  Mareschal,  "  I  think  we 
ought  to  ride  in  this  direction  also,  otherwise  we  shall 
certainly  be  blamed  for  our  negligence." 

No  reasonable  objection  could  be  offered  to  this  propo- 
sal, and  the  party  turned  their  horses'  heads  towards 
Westburnflat. 

They  had  not  proceeded  very  far  in  that  direction 
when  the  trampling  of  horses  was  heard,  and  a  small 
body  of  riders  were  perceived  advancing  to  meet  them. 

"  There  comes  Earnscliff,"  said  Mareschal ;  "  I  know 
his  bright  bay  with  the  star  in  his  front." 

"  And  there  is  my  daughter  along  with  him,"  exclaimed 
Vere,  furiously.  "  "Who  shaU  call  my  suspicions  false  or 
injurious  now  ?  Gentlemen — ^friends — lend  me  the  assist- 
ance of  your  swords  for  the  recovery  of  my  child." 

He  unsheathed  his  weapon,  and  was  imitated  by  Sir 
Frederick  and  several  of  the  party,  who  prepared  to 
charge  those  that  were  advancing  towards  them.  But 
the  greater  part  hesitated. 


134  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  They  come  to  us  in  all  peace  and  security,"  said 
Mareschal- Wells ;  "  let  us  first  hear  what  account  they  give 
us  of  this  mysterious  affair.  If  Miss  Vere  has  sustained 
the  slightest  insult  or  injury  from  Earnscliff,  I  will  be 
the  first  to  revenge  her ;  but  let  us  hear  what  they  say." 

"  You  do  me  wrong  by  your  suspicions,  Mareschal," 
continued  Vere ;  "  you  are  the  last  I  would  have  expected 
to  hear  express  them." 

"  You  injure  yourself,  Ellieslaw,  by  your  violence, 
though  the  cause  may  excuse  it." 

He  then  advanced  a  little  before  the  rest,  and  called 
out,  with  a  loud  voice — "Stand,  Mr.  Earnscliff;  or  do 
you  and  Miss  Vere  advance  alone  to  meet  us.  You  are 
charged  with  having  carried  that  lady  off  from  her  father's 
house ;  and  we  are  here  in  arms  to  shed  our  best  blood 
for  her  recovery,  and  for  bringing  to  justice  those  who 
have  injured  her." 

"And  who  would  do  that  more  willingly  than  I, 
Mr.  Mareschal?"  said  Earnscliff,  haughtily, — "than  I, 
who  had  the  satisfaction  this  morning  to  liberate  her  from 
the  dungeon  in  which  I  found  her  confined,  and  who  am 
now  escorting  her  back  to  the  castle  of  Ellieslaw?" 

"  Is  this  so,  Miss  Vere  ?  "  said  Mareschal. 

"It  is,"  answered -Isabella,  eagerly, — "it  is  so;  for 
Heaven's  sake  sheathe  your  swords.  I  will  swear  by  all 
that  is  sacred,  that  I  was  carried  off  by  rufiians,  w^hose 
persons  and  object  were  alike  unknown  to  me,  and  am 
now  restored  to  freedom  by  means  of  this  gentleman's 
gallant  interference." 

"  By  whom,  and  wherefore,  could  this  have  been  done  ?  " 
pursued  Mareschal. — "  Had  you  no  knowledge  of  the  place 
to  which  you  were  conveyed  ? — Earnscliff,  where  did  you 
find  this  lady?" 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  135 

But  ere  either  question  could  be  answered,  Ellieslaw 
advanced,  and,  returning  his  sword  to  the  scabbard,  cut 
short  the  conference. 

"  When  I  know,"  he  said,  "  exactly  how  much  I  owe 
to  Mr.  Earnscliff,  he  may  rely  on  suitable  acknowled"-- 
ments ;  mean  time,"  taking  the  bridle  of  Miss  Vere's 
horse,  "thus  far  I  thank  him  for  replacing  my  dauo-hter 
in  the  power  of  her  natural  guardian." 

A  sullen  bend  of  the  head  was  returned  by  Earnscliff 
with  equal  haughtiness ;  and  Ellieslaw,  turning  back  with 
his  daughter  upon  the  road  to  his  own  house,  appeared 
engaged  with  her  in  a  conference  so  earnest,  that  the 
rest  of  the  company  judged  it  improper  to  intrude  by 
approaching  them  too  neai'ly.  In  the  meantime,  Earns- 
cliff, as  he  took  leave  of  the  other  gentlemen,  belonging 
to  Ellieslaw's  party,  said  aloud, — "  Although  I  am  uncon- 
scious of  any  circumstance  in  my  conduct  that  can  autho- 
rize such  a  suspicion,  I  cannot  but  observe,  that  Mr.  Vere 
seems  to  believe  that  I  have  had  some  hand  in  the  atrocious 
violence  which  has  been  offered  to  his  daughter.  I  request 
you,  gentlemen,  to  take  notice  of  my  explicit  denial  of  a 
charge  so  dishonourable ;  and  that,  although  I  can  pardon 
the  bewildering  feelings  of  a  father  in  such  a  moment, 
yet,  if  any  other  gentleman "  (he  looked  hard  at  Sir 
Frederick  Langley)  "  thinks  my  word  and  that  of  ]\Iiss 
Vere,  with  the  evidence  of  my  friends  who  accompany 
me,  too  shght  for  my  exculpation,  I  will  be  happy — most 
happy — to  repel  the  charge  as  becomes  a  man  who  counts 
his  honour  dearer  than  his  Ufe." 

"And  I'll  be  his  second,"  said  Simon  of  Hackbum, 
"  and  take  up  ony  twa  o'  ye,  gentle  or  semple,  laird  or 
loon  ;  it's  a'  ane  to  Simon." 

"  Who  is  that  rough-looking  feUow  ?  "  said  Sir  Fred- 


136  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

erick  Langley,  "  and  what  has  he  to  do  with  the  quarrels 
of  gentlemen  ?  " 

"  I'se  be  a  lad  frae  the  Hie  Te'iot,"  said  Simon,  "  and 
I'se  quarrel  wi'  ony  body  I  like,  except  the  king,  or  the 
laird  I  live  under." 

"  Come,"  said  Mareschal,  "  let  us  have  no  brawls — 
Mr.  Earnscliff,  although  we  do  not  think  alike  in  some 
things,  I  trust  we  may  be  opponents,  even  enemies,  if 
foi'tune  will  have  it  so,  without  losing  our  respect  for 
birth,  fair  play,  and  each  other.  I  believe  you  as  innocent 
of  this  matter  as  I  am  myself;  and  I  will  pledge  myself 
that  my  cousin  Ellieslaw,  as  soon  as  the  perplexity  attend- 
ing these  sudden  events  has  left  his  judgment  to  its  free 
exercise,  shall  handsomely  acknowledge  the  very  impor- 
tant service  you  have  this  day  rendered  him." 

"  To  have  served  your  cousin  is  a  sufficient  reward  in 
itself. — Good  evening,  gentlemen,"  continued  Earnscliff, 
"  I  see  most  of  your  party  are  already  on  their  way  to 
Ellieslaw." 

Then  saluting  Mareschal  with  courtesy,  and  the  rest  of 
the  party  with  indifference,  Earnscliff  turned  his  horse 
and  rode  towards  the  Heugh-foot,  to  concert  measures 
with  Hobble  Elliot  for  farther  researches  after  his 
bride,  of  whose  restoration  to  her  friends  he  was  still 
ignorant. 

"  There  he  goes,"  said  Mareschal ;  "  he  is  a  fine,  gallant 
young  fellow,  upon  my  soul ;  and  yet  I  should  like  well 
to  have  a  thrust  with  him  on  the  green  turf.  1  was 
reckoned  at  college  nearly  his  equal  with  the  foils,  and  I 
should  like  to  try  him  at  sharps." 

"  In  my  opinion,"  answered  Sir  Frederick  Langley, 
"  we  have  done  very  ill  in  having  suffered  him,  and  those 
men  who  are  with  him,  to   go  off  without  taking  away 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  137 

their  arms  ;  for  the  "Whigs  are  very  likely  to  draw  to  a 
head  under  such  a  sprightly  young  fellow  as  that." 

"  For  shame,  Sir  Frederick  !  "  exclaimed  Mareschal ; 
"  do  you  think  that  Ellieslaw  could,  in  honour,  consent 
to  any  violence  being  offered  to  Earnscliff,  when  he  en- 
tered his  bounds  only  to  bring  back  his  daughter  ?  or,  if 
he  were  to  be  of  your  opinion,  do  you  think  that  I,  and 
the  rest  of  these  gentlemen,  would  disgrace  ourselves  by 
assisting  in  such  a  transaction  ?  No,  no,  fair  play  and 
auld  Scotland  for  ever !  When  the  sword  is  drawn,  I 
will  be  as  ready  to  use  it  as  any  man  ;  but  while  it  is 
in  the  sheath,  let  us  behave  like  gentlemen  and  neigh- 
bours." 

Soon  after  this  colloquy  they  reached  the  castle,  when 
Ellieslaw,  who  had  been  arrived  a  few  minutes  before, 
met  them  in  the  court-yard. 

"  How  is  Miss  Vere  ?  and  have  you  learned  the 
cause  of  her  being  carried  off?  "  asked  Mareschal, 
hastily. 

"  She  is  retired  to  her  apartment  greatly  fatigued  ;  and 
I  cannot  expect  much  light  upon  her  adventure  till  her 
spirits  are  somewhat  recruited,"  replied  her  father.  "  She 
and  I  were  not  the  less  obliged  to  you,  Mareschal,  and  to 
my  other  friends,  for  their  kind  inquiries.  But  I  must 
suppress  the  father's  feelings  for  a  while  to  give  myself 
up  to  those  of  the  patriot.  You  know  this  is  the  day  fixed 
for  our  final  decision — time  presses — our  friends  are  ar- 
riving, and  I  have  opened  house,  not  only  for  the  gentry, 
but  for  the  under  spur-leathers  whom  we  must  necessa- 
rily employ.  "We  have,  therefore,  little  time  to  prepare 
to  meet  them. — Look  over  these  lists,  Marchie,  (an  abbre- 
viation by  which  Mareschal- Wells  was  known  among  his 
friends.)     Do  you.  Sir  Frederick,  read  these  letters  from 


138  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

Lothian  and  the  west — all  is  ripe  for  the  sickle,  and  we 
have  but  to  summon  out  the  reapers." 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  said  Mareschal ;  "  the  more  mis- 
chief the  better  sport." 

Sir  Frederick  looked  grave  and  disconcerted. 

"  Walk  aside  with  me,  my  good  friend,"  said  Ellies- 
law  to  the  sombre  baronet ;  "  I  have  something  for 
your  private  ear,  with  which  I  know  you  will  be  grat- 
ified." 

They  walked  into  the  house,  leaving  Ratcliffe  and 
Mareschal  standing  together  in  the  court. 

"  And  so,"  said  Ratcliffe,  "  the  gentlemen  of  your  polit- 
ical persuasion  think  the  downfall  of  this  government  so 
certain,  that  they  disdain  even  to  throw  a  decent  disguise 
over  the  machinations  of  their  party  ?  " 

"Faith,"  Mr.  Ratcliffe,"  answered  Mareschal,  "the 
actions  and  sentiments  of  your  friends  may  require  to  be 
veiled,  but  I  am  better  pleased  that  ours  can  go  bare- 
faced." 

"  And  is  it  possible,"  continued  Ratcliffe,  "  that  you, 
who,  notwithstanding  your  thoughtlessness  and  heat  of 
temper,  (I  beg  pardon,  Mr.  Mareschal,  I  am  a  plain 
man) — that  you,  who,  notwithstanding  these  constitu- 
tional defects,  possess  natural  good  sense  and  acquired 
information,  should  be  infatuated  enough  to  embroil  your- 
self in  such  desperate  proceedings  ?  How  does  your  head 
feel  when  you  are  engaged  in  these  dangerous  confer- 
ences ?  " 

"  Not  quite  so  secure  on  my  shoulders,"  answered 
Mareschal,  "  as  if  I  were  talking  of  hunting  and  hawking. 
I  am  not  of  so  indifferent  a  mould  as  my  cousin  EUies- 
law,  who  speaks  treason  as  if  it  were  a  child's  nursery 
rhymes,  and  loses  and  recovers  that  sweet  girl,  his  daugh- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  139 

ter,  with  a  good  deal  less  emotion  on  both  occasions,  than 
would  have  affected  me  had  I  lost  and  recovered  a  grey- 
hound puppy.  My  temper  is  not  quite  so  inflexible,  nor 
my  hate  against  government  so  inveterate,  as  to  blind  me 
to  the  full  danger  of  the  attempt." 

"  Then  why  involve  yourself  in  it  ?  "  said  Ratcliffe. 

"  Why,  I  love  this  poor  exiled  king  with  all  my  heart ; 
and  my  father  was  an  old  Killiecrankie-man,  and  I  long 
to  see  some  amends  on  the  Unionist  courtiers,  that  have 
bought  and  sold  old  Scotland,  whose  crown  has  been  so 
long  independent." 

"  And  for  the  sake  of  these  shadows,"  said  his  monitor, 
"  you  are  going  to  involve  your  country  in  war,  and  yom*- 
self  in  trouble  ?  " 

"  /  involve  ?  No  ! — but,  trouble  for  trouble,  I  had 
rather  it  came  to-morrow  than  a  month  hence.  Come,  I 
know  it  will ;  and,  as  your  country  folks  say,  better  soon 
than  syne — it  will  never  find  me  younger — and  as  for 
hanging,  as  Sir  John  Falstaff  says,  I  can  become  a  gal- 
lows as  well  as  another.  You  know  the  end  of  the  old 
ballad ; 

Sae  dauntonly,  sae  wantonly, 

Sae  rantingly  gaed  he, 
He  played  a  spring,  and  danced  a  round, 

Beneath  the  gallows  tree." 

"  Mr.  Mareschal,  I  am  sorry  for  you,"  said  his  grave 
adviser. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  you,  Mr.  Ratcliffe  ;  but  I  would 
not  have  you  judge  of  our  enterprise  by  my  way  of 
vindicating  it ;  there  are  wiser  heads  than  mine  at  the 
work." 

"  Wiser  heads  than  yours  may  lie  as  low,"  said  Ratcliffe, 
in  a  warning  tone. 


140 


WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 


"  Perhaps  so  ;  but  no  lighter  heart  shall ;  and,  to  pre- 
vent it  being  made  heavier  by  your  remonstrances,  I  will 
bid  you  adieu,  Mr.  EatclifFe,  till  dinner-time,  when  yon 
shall  see  that  my  apprehensions  have  not  spoiled  my 
appetite." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  141 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

To  face  the  garment  of  rebellion 
With  some  fine  colour,  that  may  please  the  eye 
Of  fickle  changelings,  and  poor  discontents, 
Which  gape  and  rub  the  elbow  at  the  newa 
Of  hurlyburly  innovation. 

Henry  the  Fourth,  Fart  II. 

There  had  been  great  preparations  made  at  EUieslaw 
Castle  for  the  entertainment  on  this  important  day,  when 
not  only  the  gentlemen  of  note  in  the  neighbourhood  at- 
tached to  the  Jacobite  interest,  were  expected  to  rendez- 
vous, but  also  many  suboi'dinate  malcontents,  whom  diffi- 
culty of  circumstances,  love  of  change,  resentment  against 
England,  or  any  of  the  numerous  causes  which  inflamed 
men's  passions  at  the  time,  rendered  apt  to  join  in  peril- 
ous enterprise.  The  men  of  rank  and  substance  were 
not  many  in  number  ;  for  almost  all  the  large  proprietors 
stood  aloof,  and  most  of  the  smaller  gentry  and  yeomanry 
were  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion,  and  therefore,  how- 
ever displeased  with  the  Union,  unwilling  to  engage  in  a 
Jacobite  conspiracy.  But  there  were  some  gentlemen  of 
property,  who,  either  from  early  principle,  from  religious 
motives,  or  sharing  the  ambitious  views  of  EUieslaw,  had 
given  countenance  to  his  scheme ;  and  there  were,  also, 
some  fiery  young  men,  like  Mareschal,  desirous  of  signal- 
izing themselves  by  engaging  in  a  dangerous  enterprise, 


142  WAVEELEY    NOVELS. 

by  which  they  hoped  to  vindicate  the  independence  of 
their  country.  The  other  members  of  the  party  were 
persons  of  inferior  rank  and  desperate  fortunes,  who 
were  now  ready  to  rise  in  that  part  of  the  country,  as 
they  did  afterwards  in  the  year  1715,  under  Forster  and 
Derwentwater,  when  a  troop,  commanded  by  a  Border 
gentleman,  named  Douglas,  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
freebooters,  among  whom  the  notorious  Luck-in-a-bag,  as 
he  was  called,  held  a  distinguished  command.  We  think 
it  necessary  to  mention  these  particulars,  applicable  solely 
to  the  province  in  which  our  scene  lies  ;  because,  unques- 
tionably, the  Jacobite  party  in  the  other  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, consisted  of  much  more  formidable,  as  well  as  much 
more  respectable  materials. 

One  long  table  extended  itself  down  the  ample  hall  of 
Ellieslaw  Castle,  which  was  still  left  much  in  the  state  in 
which  it  had  been  one  hundred  years  before,  stretching, 
that  is,  in  gloomy  length,  along  the  whole  side  of  the 
castle,  vaulted  with  ribbed  arches  of  freestone,  the  groins 
of  which  sprung  from  projecting  figures,  that,  carved  into 
all  the  wild  forms  which  the  fantastic  imagination  of  a 
Gothic  architect  could  devise,  grinned,  frowned,  and 
gnashed  their  tusks,  at  the  assembly  below.  Long  nar- 
row windows  lighted  the  banqueting  room  on  both  sides, 
filled  up  with  stained  glass,  through  which  the  sun  emitted 
a  dusky  and  discoloured  light.  A  banner,  which  tradition 
averred  to  have  been  taken  from  the  English  at  the  battle 
of  Sark,  waved  over  the  chair  in  which  Ellieslaw  pre- 
sided, as  if  to  inflame  the  courage  of  the  guests,  by 
reminding  them  of  ancient  victories  over  their  neighbours. 
He  himself,  a  portly  figure,  dressed  on  this  occasion  with 
uncommon  care,  and  with  features,  which,  though  of  a 
stern  and  sinister  expression,  might  well  be  termed  hand- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  143 

some,  looked  the  old  feudal  baron  extremely  well.  Sir 
Frederick  Langley  was  placed  on  his  right  hand,  and 
Mr.  Mareschal  of  Mareschal-Wells  on  his  left.  Some 
gentlemen  of  consideration,  with  their  sons,  brothers,  and 
nephews,  were  seated  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table,  and 
among  these  Mr.  Ratcliffe  had  his  place.  Beneath  the 
salt-cellar  (a  massive  piece  of  plate  which  occupied  the 
midst  of  the  table)  sate  the  sine  nomine  turba,  men  whose 
vanity  was  gratified  by  holding  even  this  suboi-dinate 
space  at  the  social  board,  while  the  distinction  observed 
in  ranking  them  was  a  salvo  to  the  pride  of  their  supe- 
riors. That  the  lower  house  was  not  very  select  must 
be  admitted,  since  Willie  of  Westburnflat  was  one  of  the 
party.  The  unabashed  audacity  of  this  fellow,  in  daring 
to  present  himself  in  the  house  of  a  gentleman,  to  whom 
he  had  just  offered  so  flagrant  an  insult,  can  only  be 
accounted  for  by  supposing  him  conscious  that  his  share 
in  carrying  off  Miss  Vere  was  a  secret,  safe  in  her  pos- 
session and  that  of  her  father. 

Before  this  numerous  and  miscellaneous  party  was 
placed  a  dinner,  consisting,  not  indeed  of  the  delicacies 
of  the  season,  as  the  newspapers  express  it,  but  of  viands, 
ample,  solid,  and  sumptuous,  under  which  the  very  board 
groaned.  But  the  mirth  was  not  in  proportion  to  the 
good  cheer.  The  lower  end  of  the  table  were,  for  some 
time,  chilled  by  constraint  and  respect,  on  finding  them- 
selves members  of  so  august  an  assembly  ;  and  those  who 
were  placed  around  it  had  those  feelings  of  awe  with 
which  P.  P.,  clerk  of  the  parish,  describes  himself  op- 
pressed, when  he  first  uplifted  the  psalm  in  presence  of 
those  persons  of  high  worship,  the  wise  Mr.  Justice 
Freeman,  the  good  Lady  Jones,  and  the  great  Sir  Thomas 
Truby.     This  ceremonious  frost,  however,  soon  gave  way 


144  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

before  the  incentives  to  merriment,  which  were  liberally 
supplied,  and  as  liberally  consumed  by  the  guests  of  the 
lower  description.  They  became  talkative,  loud,  and 
even  clamorous  in  their  mirth. 

But  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  wine  or  brandy  to 
elevate  the  spirits  of  those  who  held  the  higher  places  at 
the  banquet.  They  experienced  the  chilling  revulsion 
of  spirits  which  often  takes  place,  when  men  are  called 
upon  to  take  a  desperate  resolution,  after  having  placed 
themselves  in  circumstances  where  it  is  alike  difficult  to 
advance  or  to  recede.  The  precipice  looked  deeper  and 
more  dangerous  as  they  approached  the  brink,  and  each 
waited  with  an  inward  emotion  of  awe,  expecting  which 
of  his  confederates  would  set  the  example  by  plunging 
himself  down.  This  inward  sensation  of  fear  and  reluc- 
tance acted  diffisrently,  according  to  the  various  habits 
and  characters  of  the  company.  One  looked  grave ; 
another  looked  silly ;  a  third  gazed  with  apprehension  on 
the  empty  seats  at  the  higher  end  of  the  table,  designed 
for  members  of  the  conspiracy  whose  prudence  had  pre- 
vailed over  their  political  zeal,  and  who  had  absented 
themselves  from  their  consultations  at  this  critical  period ; 
and  some  seemed  to  be  reckoning  up  in  their  minds  the 
comparative  rank  and  prospects  of  those  who  were  present 
and  absent.  Sir  Frederick  Langley  was  reserved,  moody, 
and  discontented.  Ellieslaw  himself  made  such  forced 
efforts  to  raise  the  spirits  of  the  company,  as  plainly 
marked  the  flagging  of  his  own.  Ratcliffe  watched  the 
scene  with  the  composure  of  a  vigilant  but  uninterested 
spectator.  Mareschal  alone,  true  to  the  thoughtless  vivacity 
of  his  character,  eat  and  drank,  laughed  and  jested,  and 
seemed  even  to  find  amusement  in  the  embarrassment  of 
the  company. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  145 

"  What  has  damped  our  noble  courage  this  morning  ?  " 
he  exclaimed.  "  We  seem  to  be  met  at  a  funei'al,  where 
the  chief  mourners  must  not  speak  above  their  breath, 
while  the  mutes  and  the  saulies  (looking  to  the  lower  end 
of  the  table)  are  carousing  below.  EUieslaw,  when  will 
you  lift  ?  *  where  sleeps  your  spirit,  man  ?  and  what  has 
quelled  the  high  hope  of  the  Knight  of  Langley-dale  ?  " 

"  You  speak  like  a  madman,"  said  Ellieslaw ;  "  do  you 
not  see  how  many  are  absent  ?  " 

"  And  what  of  that  ?  "  said  Mareschal.  "  Did  you  not 
know  before,  that  one-half  of  the  world  are  better  talkers 
than  doers  ?  For  my  part,  I  am  much  encouraged  by 
seeing  at  least  two-thirds  of  our  friends  true  to  the 
rendezvous,  though  I  suspect  one-half  of  these  came  to 
secure  the  dinner  in  case  of  the  worst." 

"  There  is  no  news  from  the  coast  which  can  amount 
to  certainty  of  the  King's  arrival,"  said  another  of  the 
company,  in  that  tone  of  subdued  and  tremulous  whisper 
which  implies  a  failure  of  resolution. 

"  Not  a  line  from  the  Earl  of  D ,  nor  a  single 

gentleman  from  the  southern  side  of  the  Border,"  said  a 
third. 

"  Who  is  he  that  wishes  for  more  men  from  England," 
exclaimed  Mareschal,  in  a  theatrical  tone  of  affected 
heroism, 

"  My  cousin  Ellieslaw?    No,  my  fair  cousin, 
If  we  are  doomed  to  die " 

"  For  God's  sake,"  said  Ellieslaw,  "  spare  us  your  folly 
at  present,  Mareschal." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  his  kinsman,  "  I'll  bestow  my  wisdom 

*  To  lift,  meaning  to  lift  the  coflSn,  is  the  common  expression  for 
commencing  a  funeral. 

VOL.    XI.  10 


146  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

upon  you  instead,  sucli  as  it  is.  If  we  have  gone  forward 
like  fools,  do  not  let  us  go  back  like  cowards.  We  have 
done  enough  to  draw  upon  us  both  the  suspicion  and 
vengeance  of  the  government;  do  not  let  us  give  up 
before  we  have  done  something  to  deserve  it.  What, 
will  no  one  speak  ?  Then  I'll  leap  the  ditch  the  first." 
And,  starting  up,  he  filled  a  beer-glass  to  the  brim  with 
claret,  and  waving  his  hand,  commanded  all  to  follow  his 
example,  and  to  rise  up  from  their  seats.  All  obeyed — 
the  more  qualified  guests  as  if  passively,  the  others  with 
enthusiasm.  "  Then,  my  friends,  I  give  you  the  pledge 
of  the  day, — The  independence  of  Scotland,  and  the 
health  of  our  lawful  sovereign.  King  James  the  Eighth, 
now  landed  in  Lothian,  and,  as  I  trust  and  believe,  in  full 
possession  of  his  ancient  capital ! " 

He  quaffed  off"  the  wine,  and  threw  the  glass  over  his 
head. 

"  It  should  never,"  he  said,  "  be  profaned  by  a  meaner 
toast." 

All  followed  his  example,  and,  amid  the  crash  of  glasses 
and  the  shouts  of  the  company,  pledged  themselves  to 
stand  or  fall  with  the  principles  and  political  interest 
which  their  toast  expressed. 

"  You  have  leaped  the  ditch  with  a  witness,"  said 
Ellieslaw,  apart  to  Mareschal ;  "  but  I  believe  it  is  all 
for  the  best :  at  all  events,  we  cannot  now  retreat  from 
our  undertaking.  One  man  alone  "  (looking  at  Ratcliffe) 
"  has  refused  the  pledge ;  but  of  that  by  and  by." 

Then  rising  up,  he  addressed  the  company  in  a  style 
of  inflammatory  invective  against  the  govei-nment  and  its 
measures,  but  especially  the  Union  ;  a  treaty,  by  means 
of  which,  he  affirmed,  Scotland  had  been  at  once  cheated 
of  her  independence,  her  commerce,  and  her  honour,  and 


THE    BLACK   DWARF.  147 

laid  as  a  fettered  slave  at  the  foot  of  the  rival,  against 
whom,  through  such  a  length  of  ages,  through  so  many 
dangers,  and  by  so  much  blood,  she  had  honourably 
defended  her  rights.  This  was  touching  a  theme  which 
found  a  responsive  chord  in  the  bosom  of  every  man 
present. 

"  Our  commerce  is  destroyed,"  hallooed  old  John  Rew- 
castle,  a  Jedburgh  smuggler,  from  the  lower  end  of  the 
table. 

"  Our  agriculture  is  ruined,"  said  the  Laird  of  Broken- 
girth-flow,  a  territory,  which,  since  the  days  of  Adam,  had 
borne  nothing  but  ling  and  whortle-berries. 

"  Our  religion  is  cut  up,  root  and  branch,"  said  the 
pimple-nosed  pastor  of  the  Episcopal  meeting-house  at 
Kirkwhistle. 

"  We  shall  shortly  neither  dare  shoot  a  deer  nor  kiss  a 
wench,  without  a  certificate  from  the  presbytery  and  kirk- 
treasurer,"  said  Mareschal- Wells. 

"Or  make  a  brandy  Jeroboam  in  a  frosty  morning, 
without  Ucense  from  a  commissioner  of  excise,"  said  the 
smuggler. 

"  Or  ride  over  the  fell  in  a  moonless  night,"  said  West- 
burnflat,  "  without  asking  leave  of  young  Earnsclifl',  or 
some  Englified  justice  of  the  peace :  thae  were  gude  days 
on  the  Border  when  there  was  neither  peace  nor  justice 
heard  of." 

"  Let  us  remember  our  wrongs  at  Darien  and  Glencoe," 
continued  Ellieslaw,  "  and  take  arms  for  the  protection  of 
our  rights,  our  fortunes,  our  liv,es,  and  our  families." 

"  Think  upon  genuine  Episcopal  ordination,  without 
which  there  can  be  no  lawful  clergy,"  said  the  divine. 

"  Think  of  the  piracies  committed  on  our  East-Indian 
trade  by  Green  and  the  English  thieves,"  said  William 


148  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Willieson,  half-owner  and  sole  skipper  of  a  brig  that 
made  four  voyages  annually  between  Cockpool  and 
Whitehaven. 

"  Remember  your  liberties,"  rejoined  Mareschal,  who 
seemed  to  take  a  mischievous  delight  in  precipitating  the 
movements  of  the  enthusiasm  which  he  had  excited,  like 
a  roguish  boy,  who,  having  lifted  the  sluice  of  a  mill-dam, 
enjoys  the  clatter  of  the  wheels  which  he  has  put  in 
motion,  without  thinking  of  the  mischief  he  may  have 
occasioned.  "  Remember  your  liberties,"  he  exclaimed  ; 
"  confound  cess,  press,  and  presbytery,  and  the  memory 
of  old  Willie  that  first  brought  them  upon  us  ! " 

"  Damn  the  gauger ! "  echoed  old  John  Rewcastle ; 
"  I'll  cleave  him  wi'  my  ain  hand." 

"And  confound  the  country-keeper  and  the  constable  !" 
re-echoed  Westburnfiat ;  "  I'll  weize  a  brace  of  balls 
through  them  before  morning." 

"  We  are  agreed,  then,"  said  EUieslaw,  when  the  shouts 
had  somewhat  subsided,  "  to  bear  this  state  of  things  no 
longer  ?  " 

"  We  are  agi'eed  to  a  man,"  answered  his  guests. 

"Not  literally  so,"  said  Mr.  RatcliflFe ;  "for  though  I 
cannot  hope  to  assuage  the  violent  symptoms  which  seem 
so  suddenly  to  have  seized  upon  the  company,  yet  I  beg 
to  observe,  that  so  far  as  the  opinion  of  a  single  member 
goes,  I  do  not  entirely  coincide  in  the  list  of  grievances 
which  has  been  announced,  and  that  I  do  utterly  protest 
against  the  frantic  measures  which  you  seem  disposed  to 
adopt  for  removing  them.  I  can  easily  suppose  much  of 
what  has  been  spoken  may  have  arisen  out  of  the  heat 
of  the  moment,  or  have  been  said  perhaps  in  jest.  But 
there  are  some  jests  of  a  nature  very  apt  to  transpire ; 
and  you  ought  to  remember,  gentlemen,  that  stone-walls 
have  ears." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  149 

"  Stone-walls  may  have  ears,"  returned  EUieslaw,  eye- 
ing him  with  a  look  of  triumphant  malignity,  "but  do- 
mestic spies,  Mr.  Ratcliffe,  will  soon  find  themselves 
without  any,  if  any  such  dares  to  continue  his  abode  in  a 
family  where  his  coming  was  an  unauthorized  intrusion, 
where  his  conduct  has  been  that  of  a  presumptuous  med- 
dler, and  from  which  his  exit  shall  be  that  of  a  baffled 
knave,  if  he  does  not  know  how  to  take  a  hint." 

"  Mr.  Vere,"  returned  Ratcliffe,  with  calm  contempt, 
"  I  am  fully  aware,  that  as  soon  as  my  presence  becomes 
useless  to  you,  which  it  must  through  the  rash  step  you 
are  about  to  adopt,  it  will  immediately  become  unsafe  to 
myself,  as  it  has  always  been  hateful  to  you.  But  I  have 
one  protection,  and  it  is  a  strong  one ;  for  you  would  not 
willingly  hear  me  detail  before  gentlemen,  and  men  of 
honour,  the  singular  circumstances  in  which  our  connexion 
took  its  rise.  As  to  the  rest,  I  rejoice  at  its  conclusion  ; 
and  as  I  think  that  Mr.  Mareschal  and  some  other  gentle- 
men will  guarantee  the  safety  of  my  ears  and  of  my  throat 
(for  which  last  I  have  more  reason  to  be  apprehensive) 
during  the  course  of  the  night,  I  shall  not  leave  your 
castle  till  to-morrow  morning." 

"  Be  it  so,  sir,"  replied  Mr.  Vere ;  "  you  are  entirely 
safe  from  my  resentment,  because  you  are  beneath  it,  and 
not  because  I  am  afraid  of  your  disclosing  any  family 
secrets,  although,  for  your  own  sake,  I  warn  you  to  be- 
ware how  you  do  so.  Your  agency  and  intermediation 
can  be  of  little  consequence  to  one  who  will  win  or  lose 
all,  as  lawful  right  or  unjust  usurpation  shall  succeed  in 
the  struggle  that  is  about  to  ensue.     Farewell,  sir." 

Ratcliffe  arose,  and  cast  upon  him  a  look,  which  Vere 
seemed  to  sustain  with  difficulty,  and,  bowing  to  those 
around  him,  left  the  room. 


150  WAVEELET  NOVELS. 

This  conversation  made  an  impression  on  many  of  the 
company,  which  EUieslaw  hastened  to  dispel,  by  entering 
upon  the  business  of  the  day.  Their  hasty  deliberations 
went  to  organize  an  immediate  insurrection.  EUieslaw, 
Mareschal,  and  Sir  Frederick  Langley,  were  chosen  lead- 
ers, with  powers  to  direct  their  farther  measures.  A  place 
of  rendezvous  was  appointed,  at  which  all  agreed  to  meet 
eai'ly  on  the  ensuing  day,  with  such  followers  and  friends 
to  the  cause  as  each  could  collect  around  him.  Several 
of  the  guests  retired  to  make  the  necessary  preparations ; 
and  EUieslaw  made  a  formal  apology  to  the  others,  who, 
with  Westburnflat  and  the  old  smuggler,  continued  to  ply 
the  bottle  stanchly,  for  leaving  the  head  of  the  table,  as 
he  must  necessarily  hold  a  separate  and  sober  conference 
with  the  coadjutors  whom  they  had  associated  with  him 
in  the  command. 

The  apology  was  the  more  readily  accepted,  as  he 
prayed  them,  at  the  same  time,  to  continue  to  amuse 
themselves  with  such  refreshments  as  the  cellai'S  of  the 
castle  afforded.  Shouts  of  applause  followed  their  re- 
treat ;  and  the  names  of  Vere,  Langley,  and,  above  all, 
of  Mareschal,  were  thundered  forth  in  chorus,  and  bathed 
with  copious  bumpers  repeatedly,  during  the  remainder 
of  the  evening. 

When  the  principal  conspirators  had  retired  into  a 
separate  apartment,  they  gazed  on  each  other  for  a  minute 
with  a  sort  of  embarrassment,  which,  in  Sir  Frederick's 
dark  features,  amounted  to  an  expression  of  discontented 
sullenness.  Mareschal  was  the  first  to  break  the  pause, 
saying,  with  a  loud  burst  of  laughter, — "  Well !  we  are 
fairly  embarked  now,  gentlemen — vogue  la  galere  !  " 

"  We  may  thank  you  for  the  plunge,"  said  EUieslaw. 

"  Yes  ;  but  I  don't  know  how  far  you  will  thank  me," 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  151 

answered  Mareschal,  "  when  I  show  you  this  letter,  which 
I  received  just  before  we  sat  down.  My  servant  told  me 
it  was  delivered  by  a  man  he  had  never  seen  before,  who 
went  off  at  the  gallop,  after  charging  him  to  put  it  into 
my  own  hand." 

EUieslaw  impatiently  opened  the  letter,  and  read 
aloud — 

HOND.  Sir,  Edinburgh, . 

Having  obligations  to  your  family,  which  shall  be  name- 
less, and  learning  that  you  are  one  of  the  company  of 
adventurers  doing  business  for  the  house  of  James  and 
Company,  late  merchants  in  London,  now  in  Dunkii-k,  I 
think  it  right  to  send  you  this  early  and  private  informa- 
tion, that  the  vessels  you  expected  have  been  driven  off 
the  coast,  without  having  been  able  to  break  bulk,  or  to 
land  any  part  of  their  cargo ;  and  that  the  west-country 
partners  have  resolved  to  withdraw  their  name  from  the 
firm,  as  it  must  prove  a  losing  concern.  Having  good 
hope  you  will  avail  yourself  of  this  early  information,  to 
do  what  is  needful  for  your  own  security,  I  rest  your 
humble  servant.  Nihil  Nameless. 

For  Ralph  Mareschal,  of  Mareschal-  Wells 
—  These,  icith  care  and  speed. 

Sir  Frederick's  jaw  dropped,  and  his  countenance  black- 
ened, as  the  letter  was  read,  and  EUieslaw  exclaimed, — 
"  Why,  this  affects  the  very  mainspring  of  our  enterprise. 
If  the  French  tleet,  with  the  King  on  board,  has  .been 
chased  off  by  the  English,  as  this  d — d  scrawl  seems  to 
intimate,  where  ax'e  we  ?" 

"  Just  where  we  were  this  morning,  I  think,"  said 
Mareschal,  still  laughing. 


152  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

"  Pardon  me,  and  a  truce  to  your  ill-timed  mirth,  Mr. 
Mareschal ;  this  morning  we  were  not  committed  publicly, 
as  we  now  stand  committed  by  your  own  mad  act,  when 
you  had  a  letter  in  your  pocket  apprizing  you  that  our 
undertaking  was  desperate." 

"  Ay,  ay,  I  expected  you  would  say  so.  But,  in  the 
first  place,  my  friend  Nihil  Nameless  and  his  letter  may 
be  all  a  flam  ;  and,  moreover,  I  would  have  you  know  that 
I  am  tired  of  a  party  that  does  nothing  but  form  bold 
resolutions  over  night,  and  sleep  them  away  with  their 
Avine  before  morning.  The  government  are  now  unpro- 
vided of  men  and  ammunition  ;  in  a  few  weeks  they  will 
have  enough  of  both  :  the  country  is  now  in  a  flame 
against  them ;  in  a  few  weeks,  betwixt  the  effects  of  self- 
interest,  of  fear,  and  of  lukewarm  indifference,  which  are 
already  so  visible,  this  first  fervour  will  be  as  cold  as 
Christmas.  So,  as  I  was  determined  to  go  the  vole,  I 
have  taken  care  you  shall  dip  as  deep  as  I ;  it  sig- 
nifies nothing  plunging.  You  are  fairly  in  the  bog,  and 
must  struggle  through." 

"You  are  mistaken  with  respect  to  one  of  us,  Mr. 
Mareschal,"  said  Sir  Frederick  Langley ;  and,  applying 
himself  to  the  bell,  he  desired  the  person  who  entered  to 
order  his  servants  and  horses  instantly. 

"  You  must  not  leave  us.  Sir  Frederick,"  said  EUie- 
slaw ;  "  we  have  our  musters  to  go  over." 

"I  will  go  to-night,  Mr.  Vei'e,"  said  Sir  Frederick, 
"  and  write  you  my  intentions  in  this  matter  when  I  am 
at  home." 

"  Ay,"  said  Mareschal,  "  and  send  them  by  a  troop  of 
horse  from  Carlisle  to  make  us  prisoners  ?  Look  ye.  Sir 
Frederick,  I  for  one  will  neither  be  deserted  nor  be- 
trayed ;  and  if  you  leave  Ellieslaw  Castle  to-night,  it 
shall  be  by  passing  over  my  dead  body." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  153 

"  For  shame  !  Mareschal,"  said  Mr.  Vere,  "  how  can 
you  so  hastily  misinterpret  our  friend's  intentions  ?  I  am 
sure  Sir  Frederick  can  only  be  jesting  with  us ;  for,  were 
he  not  too  honourable  to  dream  of  deserting  the  cause,  he 
cannot  but  remember  the  full  proofs  we  have  of  his 
accession  to  it,  and  his  eager  activity  in  advancing  it. 
He  cannot  but  be  conscious,  besides,  that  the  first  infor- 
mation will  be  readily  received  by  government,  and  that 
if  the  question  be,  which  can  first  lodge  intelligence  of  the 
affair,  we  can  easily  save  a  few  hours  on  him." 

"  You  shoukT  say  you,  and  not  we,  when  you  talk  of 
priorities  in  such  a  race  of  treachery;  for  my  part,  I 
won't  enter  my  horse  for  such  a  plate,"  said  Mareschal ; 
and  added  betwixt  his  teeth,  "  A  pretty  pair  of  fellows  to 
trust  a  man'g  neck  with  !  " 

"  I  am  not  to  be  intimidated  from  doing  what  I  think 
proper,"  said  Sir  Frederick  Langley  ;  "  and  my  first  step 
shall  be  to  leave  EUieslaw.  I  have  no  reason  to  keep 
faith  with  one  "  (looking  at  Vere)  "  who  has  kept  none 
with  me." 

"  In  what  respect,"  said  EUieslaw,  silencing,  with  a 
motion  of  his  hand,  his  impetuous  kinsman — "  how  have 
I  disappointed  you.  Sir  Frederick  ?  " 

"  In  the  neai-est  and  most  tender  point — you  have 
trifled  with  me  concerning  our  proposed  alliance,  which 
you  well  knew  was  the  gage  of  our  political  undertaking. 
This  carrying  off  and  this  bringing  back  of  Miss  Vere, — 
the  cold  reception  I  have  met  with  from  her,  and  the 
excuses  with  which  you  cover  it,  I  believe  to  be  mere 
evasions,  that  you  may  yourself  retain  possession  of  the 
estates  which  are  her's  by  right,  and  make  me,  in  the 
meanwhile,  a  tool  in  your  desperate  enterprise,  by  holding 
out  hopes  and  expectations  which  you  are  resolved  never 
to  realize." 


154  "WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

"  Sir  Frederick,  I  pi'otest,  by  all  tliat  is  sacred " 

"  I  will  listen  to  no  protestations  ;  I  have  been  clieated 
with  them  too  long,"  answered  Sir  Frederick. 

"  If  you  leave  us,"  said  Ellieslaw,  "  you  cannot  but 
know  both  your  ruin  and  ours  is  certain  ;  all  depends  on 
our  adhering  together." 

"  Leave  me  to  take  care  of  myself,"  returned  the 
knight ;  "  but  were  what  you  say  true,  I  would  rather 
perish  than  be  fooled  any  farther." 

"  Can  nothing — no  surety  convince  you  of  my  sin- 
cerity ? "  said  Ellieslaw,  anxiously ;  "  this  morning  I 
should  have  repelled  your  unjust  suspicions  as  an  insult; 
but  situated  as  we  now  are " 

"  You  feel  yourself  compelled  to  be  sincere  ?  "  retorted 
Sir  Frederick.  "  If  you  would  have  me  think  so,  there 
is  but  one  way  to  convince  me  of  it — let  your  daughter 
bestow  her  hand  on  me  this  evening." 

"  So  soon  ? — impossible,"  answered  Vei-e  ;  "  think  of 
her  late  alarm — of  our  present  undertaking." 

"  I  will  listen  to  nothing  but  to  her  consent,  plighted  at 
the  altar.  You  have  a  chapel  in  the  castle — Doctor 
Hobbler  is  present  among  the  company — this  proof  of 
your  good  faith  to-night,  and  we  are  again  joined  in  heart 
and  hand.  If  you  refuse  me  when  it  is  so  much  for  your 
advantage  to  consent,  how  shall  I  trust  you  to-morrow, 
when  I  shall  stand  committed  in  your  undertaking,  and 
unable  to  retract?" 

"  And  am  I  to  understand,  that,  if  you  can  be  made 
my  son-in-law  to-night,  our  friendship  is  renewed  ?  "  said 
Ellieslaw. 

"  Most  infallibly,  and  most  inviolably,"  replied  Sir 
Frederick. 

"  Then,"  said  Vere,  "  though  what  you  ask  is  prema- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  155 

ture,  indelicate,  and  unjust  towards  my  character,  yet,  Sir 
Frederick,  give  me  your  hand — my  daughter  shall  be 
your  wife." 

"This  night?" 

"  This  very  night,"  replied  Ellieslaw,  "  before  the  clock 
strikes  twelve." 

"  With  her  own  consent,  I  trust,"  said  Mareschal ; 
"for  I  promise  you  both,  gentlemen,  I  will  not  stand 
tamely  by,  and  see  any  violence  put  on  the  will  of  my 
pretty  kinswoman." 

"Another  pest,  in  this  hot-headed  fellow,"  muttered 
EUieslaw ;  and  then  aloud,  "  With  her  own  consent  ?  For 
what  do  you  take  me,  Mareschal,  that  you  should  sup- 
pose your  interference  necessary  to  protect  my  daughter 
against  her  father  ?  Depend  upon  it,  she  has  no  repug- 
nance to  Sir  Frederick  Langley." 

"Or  rather  to  be  called  Lady  Langley?  faith,  like 
enough — there  ax*e  many  women  might  be  of  her  mind  ; 
and  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  these  sudden  demtmds  and 
concessions  alarmed  me  a  httle  on  her  account." 

"  It  is  only  the  suddenness  of  the  proposal  that  embar- 
rasses me,"  said  Ellieslaw  ;  "  but  perhaps  if  she  is  found 
intractable,  Sir  Frederick  will  consider " 

"  I  will  consider  nothing,  Mr.  Vere — your  daughter's 
hand  to-night,  or  I  depart,  were  it  at  midnight — there  is 
my  ultimatum." 

"  I  embrace  it,"  said  EUieslaw,  "  and  I  will  leave  you 
to  talk  upon  our  militjiry  preparations,  while  I  go  to  pre- 
pai-e  my  daughter  for  so  sudden  a  change  of  condition." 

So  saying,  he  left  the  company. 


156  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

He  brings  Earl  Osmond  to  receive  my  vows. 

O  dreadful  change!  for  Tancred,  haughty  Osmond. 

Tancred  and  Sigismunda. 

Mr.  Vere,  whom  long  practice  of  dissimulation  had 
enabled  to  model  his  very  gait  and  footsteps  to  aid  the 
purposes  of  deception,  walked  along  the  stone  passage, 
and  up  the  first  flight  of  steps  towards  Miss  Vere's  apart- 
ment, with  the  alert,  firm,  and  steady  pace  of  one  who  is 
bound,  indeed,  upon  important  business,  but  who  enter- 
tains no  doubt  he  can  terminate  his  affairs  satisfactorily. 
But  when  out  of  hearing  of  the  gentlemen  whom  he  had 
left,  his  step  became  so  slow  and  irresolute,  as  to  corre- 
spond with  his  doubts  and  his  fears.  At  length  he  paused 
in  an  antechamber  to  collect  his  ideas,  and  form  his  plan 
of  argument,  before  approaching  his  daughter. 

"  In  what  more  hopeless  and  inextricable  dilemma  was 
ever  an  unfortunate  man  involved !  " — Such  was  the  tenor 
of  his  reflections. — "  If  we  now  fall  to  pieces  by  disunion, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  government  will  take 
my  life  as  the  prime  agitator  of  the  insurrection.  Or, 
grant  I  could  stoop  to  save  myself  by  a  hasty  submission, 
am  I  not,  even  in  that  case,  utterly  ruined  ?  I  have 
broken  irreconcilably  with  Ratcliffe,  and  can  have  nothing 
to  expect  from  that  quarter  but  insult  and  persecution. 
I  must  wander  forth  an  impoverished  and  dishonoured 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  157 

man,  without  even  the  means  of  sustaining  life,  far  less 
wealth  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  infamy  which  my 
countrymen,  both  those  whom  I  desert  and  those  whom  I 
join,  will  attach  to  the  name  of  the  political  renegade.  It 
is  not  to  be  thought  of.  And  yet,  what  choice  remains 
between  this  lot  and  the  ignominious  scaffold  ?  Nothing 
can  save  me  but  reconciliation  with  these  men ;  and,  to 
accomplish  this,  I  have  promised  to  Langley  that  Isabella 
shall  marry  him  ere  midnight,  and  to  Mareschal,  that  she 
shall  do  so  without  compulsion.  I  have  but  one  remedy 
betwixt  me  and  ruin — her  consent  to  take  a  suitor  whom 
she  dislikes,  upon  such  short  notice  as  would  disgust  her, 
even  were  he  a  favoured  lover — But  I  must  trust  to  the 
romantic  generosity  of  her  disposition  ;  and  let  me  paint 
the  necessity  of  her  obedience  ever  so  strongly,  I  cannot 
overcharge  its  reality." 

Having  finished  this  sad  chain  of  reflections  upon  his 
perilous  condition,  he  entei-ed  his  daughter's  apartment 
with  every  nerve  bent  up  to  the  support  of  the  argument 
which  he  was  about  to  sustain.  Though  a  deceitful  and 
ambitious  man,  he  was  not  so  devoid  of  natural  affection 
but  that  he  was  shocked  at  the  part  he  was  about  to  act, 
in  practising  on  the  feelings  of  a  dutiful  and  affectionate 
child  ;  but  the  recollections,  that,  if  he  succeeded,  his 
daughter  would  only  be  trepanned  into  an  advantageous 
match,  and  that,  if  he  failed,  he  himself  was  a  lost  man, 
were  quite  sufficient  to  drown  aU  scruples. 

He  found  Miss  Vere  seated  by  the  window  of  her 
dressing-room,  her  head  reclining  on  her  hand,  and  either 
sunk  in  slumber,  or  so  deeply  engaged  in  meditation,  that 
she  did  not  hear  the  noise  he  made  at  his  entrance.  He 
approached  with  his  features  composed  to  a  deep  expres- 
sion of  sorrow  and  sympathy,  and,  sitting  down  beside 


158  "WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

her,  solicited  her  attention  by  quietly  taking  her  hand,  a 
motion  which  he  did  not  fail  to  accompany  with  a  deep 
sigh. 

"  My  father  ! "  said  Isabella,  with  a  sort  of  start  which 
expressed  at  least  as  much  fear  as  joy  or  affection. 

"  Yes,  Isabella,"  said  Vere,  "  your  unhappy  father, 
who  comes  now  as  a  penitent  to  ci'ave  forgiveness  of  his 
daughter  for  an  injury  done  to  her  in  the  excess  of  his 
affection,  and  then  to  take  leave  of  her  forever." 

"  Sir  ?  Offence  to  me  !  Take  leave  forever !  What 
does  all  this  mean  ?  "  said  Miss  Vere. 

"  Yes,  Isabella,  I  am  serious.  But  first  let  me  ask  you, 
have  you  no  suspicion  that  I  may  have  been  privy  to  the 
strange  chance  which  befell  you  yesterday  morning  ?  " 

"  You  sir  ?  "  answered  Isabella,  stammering  between  a 
consciousness  that  he  had  guessed  her  thoughts  justly, 
and  the  shame  as  well  as  fear  which  forbade  her  to 
acknowledge  a  suspicion  so  degrading  and  so  unnatural. 

"  Yes  !  "  he  continued,  "  your  hesitation  confesses  that 
you  entertained  such  an  opinion,  and  I  have  now  the 
painful  task  of  acknowledging  that  your  suspicions  have 
done  me  no  injustice.  But  hsten  to  my  motives.  In  an 
evil  hour  I  countenanced  the  addresses  of  Sir  Frederick 
Langley,  conceiving  it  impossible  that  you  could  have 
any  permanent  objections  to  a  match  where  the  advan- 
tages were,  in  most  respects,  on  your  side.  In  a  worse, 
I  entered  with  him  into  measures  calculated  to  restore 
our  banished  monarch,  and  the  independence  of  my 
country.  He  has  taken  advantage  of  my  unguarded 
confidence,  and  now  has  my  life  at  his  disposal." 

"  Your  life,  sir  ?  "  said  Isabella,  faintly. 

"  Yes,  Isabella,"  continued  her  father,  "  the  life  of  him 
who  gave  life  to  you.     So  soon  as  I  foresaw  the  excesses 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  159 

into  which  his  headlong  passion  (for  to  do  him  justice,  I 
beheve  his  unreasonable  conduct  arises  from  excess  of 
attachment  to  you)  was  likely  to  hurry  him,  I  endeav- 
oured, by  finding  a  plausible  pretext  for  your  absence  for 
some  weeks,  to  extricate  myself  from  the  dilemma  in 
which  I  am  placed.  For  this  purpose  I  wished,  in  case 
your  objections  to  the  match  continued  insurmountable,  to 
have  sent  you  privately  for  a  few  months  to  the  convent 
of  your  maternal  aunt  at  Paris.  By  a  sei'ies  of  mistakes 
you  have  been  brought  from  the  place  of  secrecy  and 
security  which  I  had  destined  for  your  temporary  abode. 
Fate  has  baffled  my  last  chance  of  escape,  and  I  have 
only  to  give  you  my  blessing,  and  send  you  from  the 
castle  with  Mr.  Ratcliffe,  who  now  leaves  it ;  my  own 
fate  will  soon  be  decided." 

"  Good  Heaven,  sir !  can  this  be  possible  ?  "  exclaimed 
Isabella.  "  Oh,  why  was  I  freed  from  the  restraint  in 
which  you  placed  me  ?  or  why  did  you  not  impart  your 
pleasure  to  me  ?  " 

"  Think  an  instant,  Isabella.  "Would  you  have  had  me 
prejudice,  in  your  opinion,  the  friend  I  was  most  desirous 
of  serving,  by  communicating  to  you  the  injurious  eager- 
ness with  which  he  pursued  his  object  ?  Could  I  do  so 
honourably,  having  promised  to  assist  his  suit  ? — But  it  is 
all  over.  I  and  Mareschal  have  made  up  our  minds  to 
die  like  men ;  it  only  remains  to  send  you  from  hence 
under  a  safe  escort." 

"  Great  powers !  and  is  there  no  remedy  ? "  said  the 
terrified  young  woman. 

"  None,  my  child,"  answered  Vere,  gently,  "  unless 
one  which  you  would  not  advise  your  father  to  adopt — to 
be  the  first  to  betray  his  friends." 

"  Oh,  no,  no  ! "  she  answered,  abhorrently  yet  hastily, 


160  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

as  if  to  reject  the  temptation  which  the  alternative  pre- 
sented to  her.  "  But  is  there  no  other  hope — through 
flight — through  mediation — through  suppHcation  ? — I  will 
bend  my  knee  to  Sir  Frederick  ! " 

"  It  would  be  a  fruitless  degradation ;  he  is  determined 
on  his  course,  and  I  am  equally  resolved  to  stand  the 
hazard  of  my  fate.  On  one  condition  only  he  will  turn 
aside  from  his  purpose,  and  that  condition  my  lips  shall 
never  utter  to  you." 

"  Name  it,  I  conjure  you,  my  dear  father  !  "  exclaimed 
Isabella.  "  What  can  he  ask  that  we  ought  not  to  grant, 
to  prevent  the  hideous  catastrophe  with  which  you  are 
threatened  ?  " 

"  That,  Isabella,"  said  Vere,  solemnly,  "  you  shall 
never  know,  until  your  father's  head  has  rolled  on  the 
bloody  scaffold ;  then,  indeed,  you  will  learn  there  was 
one  sacrifice  by  which  he  might  have  been  saved." 

"  And  why  not  speak  it  now  ?  "  said  Isabella ;  "  do  you 
fear  I  would  flinch  from  the  sacrifice  of  fortune  for  your 
preservation  ?  or  would  you  bequeath  me  the  bitter 
legacy  of  life-long  remorse,  so  oft  as  I  shall  think  that 
you  perished,  while  there  remained  one  mode  of  prevent- 
ing the  dreadful  misfortune  that  overhangs  you  ?  " 

"  Then,  my  child,"  said  Vere,  "  since  you  press  me  to 
name  what  I  would  a  thousand  times  rather  leave  in 
silence,  I  must  inform  you  that  he  will  accept  for  ransom 
nothing  but  your  hand  in  marriage,  and  that  conferred 
before  midnight  this  very  evening ! " 

"  This  evening,  sir !  "  said  the  young  lady,  struck  with 
horror  at  the  proposal — "  and  to  such  a  man  ! — A  man  ! — 
a  monster,  who  could  wish  to  win  the  daughter  by  threat- 
ening the  life  of  the  father — it  is  indeed  impossible." 

"  You  say  right,  my  child,"  answered  her  ftither,  "  it  is 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  161 

indeed  impossible  ;  nor  have  I  either  the  right  or  the 
wish  to  exact  such  a  sacrifice — It  is  the  course  of  nature 
that  the  old  should  die  and  be  forgot,  and  the  joung 
should  live  and  be  happy." 

"  My  father  die,  and  his  child  can  save  him  ! — but  no — 
no — my  dear  father,  pardon  me,  it  is  impossible ;  you 
only  wish  to  guide  me  to  your  wishes.  I  know  your 
object  is  what  you  think  my  happiness,  and  this  dreadful 
tale  is  only  told  to  influence  my  conduct  and  subdue  my 
scruples." 

"  My  daughter,"  replied  Ellieslaw,  in  a  tone  where 
offended  authority  seemed  to  struggle  with  parental 
affection,  "  my  child  suspects  me  of  inventing  a  fiilse 
tale  to  work  upon  her  feelings !  Even  this  I  must  bear, 
and  even  from  this  unworthy  suspicion  I  must  descend  to 
vindicate  myself.  You  know  the  stainless  honour  of  your 
cousin  Mareschal — mark  what  I  shall  write  to  him,  and 
judge  from  his  answer,  if  the  danger  in  which  we  stand 
is  not  real,  and  whether  I  have  not  used  every  means  to 
avert  it." 

He  sate  down,  wrote  a  few  lines  hastily,  and  handed 
them  to  Isabella,  who,  after  repeated  and  painfid  efforts, 
cleared  her  eyes  and  head  sufficiently  to  discern  their 
purport. 

"  Dear  cousin,"  said  the  billet,  "  I  find  my  daughter, 
as  I  expected,  in  despair  at  the  untimely  and  premature 
urgency  of  Sir  Frederick  Langley.  She  cannot  even 
comprehend  the  peril  in  which  we  stand,  or  how  much 
we  are  in  his  power. — Use  your  influence  with  him,  for 
Heaven's  sake,  to  modify  proposals,  to  the  acceptance  of 
which  I  cannot,  and  will  not,  urge  my  child  against  all 
her  own  feelings,  as  well  as  those  of  delicacy  and  pro- 
priety, and  oblige  your  loving  cousin, — R.  V." 

VOL.  XI.  11 


162  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

In  the  agitation  of  the  moment,  when  her  swimming 
eyes  and  dizzy  brain  could  hardly  comprehend  the  sense 
of  what  she  looked  upon,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Miss 
Vere  should  have  omitted  to  remark  that  this  letter 
seemed  to  rest  her  scruples  rather  upon  the  form  and 
time  of  the  proposed  union,  than  on  a  rooted  dislike  to 
the  suitor  proposed  to  her.  Mr.  Vere  rang  the  bell,  and 
gave  the  letter  to  a  servant  to  be  delivered  to  Mr.  Mare- 
schal,  and  rising  from  his  chair,  continued  to  travei'se  the 
apartment  in  silence  and  in  great  agitation  until  the 
answer  was  returned.  He  glanced  it  over,  and  wrung 
the  hand  of  his  daughter  as  he  gave  it  to  her.  The  tenor 
was  as  follows : — 

"  My  dear  kinsman,  I  have  already  urged  the  knight 
on  the  point  you  mention,  and  I  find  him  as  fixed  as 
Cheviot.  I  am  truly  sorry  my  fair  cousin  should  be 
pressed  to  give  up  any  of  her  maidenly  rights.  Sir 
Frederick  consents,  however,  to  leave  the  castle  with  me 
the  instant  the  ceremony  is  performed,  and  we  will  raise 
our  followers  and  begin  the  fray.  Thus  there  is  great 
hope  the  bridegroom  may  be  knocked  on  the  head  before 
he  and  the  bride  can  meet  again,  so  Bell  has  a  fair  chance 
to  be  Lady  Langley  a  tres  hon  marche.  For  the  rest,  I 
can  only  say,  that  if  she  can  make  up  her  mind  to  the 
alliance  at  all — it  is  no  time  for  mere  maiden  ceremony — 
my  pretty  cousin  must  needs  consent  to  marry  in  haste, 
or  we  shall  all  repent  at  leisure,  or  rather  have  very  little 
leisure  to  repent ;  which  is  all  at  present  from  him  who 
rests  your  affectionate  kinsman, — R.  M. 

"  P.  S. — Tell  Isabella  that  I  would  rather  cut  the 
knight's  throat  after  all,  and  end  the  dilemma  that  way, 
than  see  her  constrained  to  marry  him  against  her  will." 

When  Isabella  had  read  this  letter,  it  dropped  from  her 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  163 

hand,  and  she  would,  at  the  same  time,  have  fallen  from 
her  chair,  had  she  not  been  supported  by  her  father, 

"  My  God,  my  child  will  die  ! "  exclaimed  Vere,  the 
feelings  of  nature  overcoming,  even  in  his  breast,  the 
sentiments  of  selfish  poUcy ;  "  look  up,  Isabella — look 
up,  my  child — come  what  will,  you  shall  not  be  the  saci'i- 
fice — I  will  fall  myself  with  the  consciousness  I  leave 
you  happy — My  child  may  weep  on  my  grave,  but  she 
shall  not — not  in  this  instance — reproach  my  memory." 
He  called  a  servant. — "  Go,  bid  Ratcliffe  come  hither 
directly." 

During  this  interval,  Miss  Vere  became  deadly  pale, 
clenched  her  hands,  pressing  the  palms  strongly  together, 
closed  her  eyes,  and  drew  her  lips  with  strong  compres- 
sion, as  if  the  severe  constraint  which  she  put  upon  her 
internal  feelings  extended  even  to  her  musculai"  organiza- 
tion. Then  raising  her  head,  and  drawing  in  her  breath 
strongly  ere  she  spoke,  she  said  with  firmness, — "  Father, 
I  consent  to  the  marriage." 

"  You  shall  not — you  shall  not — my  child — my  dear 
child — you  shall  not  embrace  certain  misery  to  free  me 
from  uncertain  danger." 

So  exclaimed  Ellieslaw ;  and,  strange  and  inconsistent 
beings  that  we  are  !  he  expressed  the  real  though  mo- 
mentary feelings  of  his  heart. 

"  Father,"  repeated  Isabella,  "  I  will  consent  to  this 
marriage." 

"  No,  my  child,  no — not  now  at  least — we  wiU  humble 
ourselves  to  obtain  delay  from  him ;  and  yet,  Isabella, 
could  you  overcome  a  dislike  which  has  no  real  founda- 
tion, think,  in  other  respects,  what  a  match ! — wealth- — 
rank — importance." 

"  Father,"  reiterated  Isabella,  "  I  have  consented." 


164  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

"  It  seemed  as  if  she  had  lost  the  power  of  saying  any- 
thing else,  or  even  of  varying  the  phrase  which,  with  such 
eflfort,  she  had  compelled  herself  to  utter. 

"  Heaven  bless  thee,  my  child ! — Heaven  bless  thee  ! 
— ^And  it  will  bless  thee  with  riches,  with  pleasure,  with 
power." 

Miss  Vere  faintly  entreated  to  be  left  by  herself  for  the 
rest  of  the  evening. 

"  But  will  you  not  receive  Sir  Frederick  ?  "  said  her 
father  anxiously. 

"  I  wiU  meet  him,"  she  replied,  "  I  will  meet  him — 
when  I  must,  and  where  I  must ;  but  spare  me  now." 

"  Be  it  so,  my  dearest ;  you  shall  know  no  restraint 
that  I  can  save  you  from.  Do  not  think  too  hardly  of 
Sir  Frederick  for  this, — it  is  an  excess  of  passion." 

Isabella  waved  her  hand  impatiently. 

"  Forgive  me,  my  child — I  go — Heaven  bless  thee. 
At  eleven — if  you  call  me  not  before — at  eleven  I  come 
to  seek  you." 

When  he  left  Isabella  she  dropt  upon  her  knees — 
"Heaven  aid  me  to  support  the  resolution  I  have  taken 
— Heaven  only  can — 0,  poor  EarnsclifF!  who  shall  com- 
fort him  ?  and  with  what  contempt  will  he  pronounce  her 
name,  who  listened  to  him  to-day  and  gave  herself  to 
another  at  night !  But  let  him  despise  me — better  so 
than  that  he  should  know  the  truth — Let  him  despise  me  ; 
if  it  will  but  lessen  his  grief,  I  should  feel  comfort  in  the 
loss  of  his  esteem." 

She  wept  bitterly ;  attempting  in  vain,  from  time  to 
time,  to  commence  the  prayer  for  which  she  had  sunk  on 
her  knees,  but  unable  to  calm  her  spii-its  sufficiently  for 
the  exercise  of  devotion.  As  she  remained  in  this  agony 
of  mind,  the  door  of  her  apartment  was  slowly  opened. 


THE    BLACK    DWAKF.  165 


CHAPTER   XV. 

The  darksome  cave  they  enter,  where  they  found 
The  woful  man,  low  sitting  on  the  ground. 
Musing  full  sadly  in  his  sullen  mind. 

Faery  Qdeen. 

The  intruder  on  Miss  Vere's  sorrows  was  Ratcliffe. 
EUieslaw  had,  in  the  agitation  of  his  mind,  forgotten  to 
countermand  the  order  he  had  given  to  call  him  thither, 
so  that  he  opened  the  door  with  the  words,  "  You  sent 
for  me,  Mr.  Vere."  Then  looking  around — "  Miss  Vere, 
alone  !  on  the  ground  !  and  in  tears  !  " 

"  Leave  me — leave  me,  Mr.  Ratcliffe,"  said  the  un- 
happy young  lady. 

"  I  must  not  leave  you,"  said  Ratcliffe  ;  "  I  have  been 
repeatedly  requesting  admittance  to  take  my  leave  of  you, 
and  have  been  refused,  until  your  father  himself  sent  for 
me.  Blame  me  not,  if  I  am  bold  and  intrusive  ;  I  have 
a  duty  to  discharge  which  makes  me  so." 

"  I  cannot  listen  to  you — I  cannot  speak  to  you,  Mr. 
Ratcliffe ;  take  my  best  wishes,  and  for  God's  sake  leave 
me." 

"  Tell  me  only,"  said  Ratcliffe,  "  is  it  true  that  this 
monstrous  match  is  to  go  forward,  and  this  very  night  ? 
I  heard  the  servants  proclaim  it  as  I  was  on  the  great 
staircase — I  heard  the  directions  given  to  clear  out  the 
chapel." 


1G6  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  Spare  me,  Mr.  RatclifFe,"  replied  the  luckless  bride ; 
"  and  from  the  state  in  which  you  see  me,  judge  of  the 
cruelty  of  these  questions." 

"  Married  !  to  Sir  Frederick  Langley  !  and  this  night ! 
It  must  not — can  not — shall  not  be." 

"  It  must  be,  Mr.  Ratcliffe,  or  my  father  is  ruined." 

"  Ah  !  I  understand,"  answered  Ratcliffe  ;  "  and  you 
have  sacrificed  yourself  to  save  him  who — But  let  the 
virtue  of  the  child  atone  for  the  faults  of  the  father — it 
is  no  time  to  rake  them  up.  What  can  be  done  ?  Time 
presses — I  know  but  one  remedy — with  four-and-twenty 
hours  I  might  find  many — Miss  Vere,  you  must  implore 
the  protection  of  the  only  human  being  who  has  it  in  his 
power  to  control  the  course  of  events  which  threatens  to 
hurry  you  before  it." 

"  And  what  human  being,"  answered  Miss  Vere,  "  has 
such  power  ?  " 

"  Start  not  when  I  name  him,"  said  Ratcliffe,  coming 
near  her,  and  si^eaking  in  a  low  but  distinct  voice.  "  It 
is  he  who  is  called  Elshender  the  Recluse  of  Mucklestane- 
Moor." 

"  You  are  mad,  Mr.  Ratchffe,  or  you  mean  to  insult 
my  misery  by  an  ill-timed  jest '  " 

"  I  am  as  much  in  my  senses,  young  lady,"  answered 
her  adviser,  "  as  you  are ;  and  I  am  no  idle  jester,  far 
less  with  misery,  least  of  all  \vrth  your  misery.  I  swear 
to  you  that  this  being  (who  is  other  far  than  what  he 
seems)  actually  possesses  the  means  of  redeeming  you 
from  this  hateful  union." 

"  And  of  ensuring  my  father's  safety  ?  " 

"  Yes  !  even  that,"  said  Ratcliffe,  "  if  you  plead  his 
cause  with  him — yet  how  to  obtain  admittance  to  the 
Recluse ! " 


THE    BLACK   DWARF.  167 

"  Fear  not  that,"  said  Miss  Vere,  suddenly  recollecting 
the  incident  of  the  rose ;  "  I  remember  he  desired  me  to 
call  upon  him  for  aid  in  my  extremity,  and  gave  me  this 
flower  as  a  token.  Ere  it  faded  away  entirely,  I  would 
need,  he  said,  his  assistance  :  is  it  possible  his  words  can 
have  been  aught  but  the  ravings  of  insanity  ?  " 

"  Doubt  it  not — fear  it  not — but  above  all,"  said  Rat- 
cliffe,  "  let  us  lose  no  time — Are  you  at  liberty,  and 
unwatched  ?  " 

"  I  believe  so,"  said  Isabella ;  "  but  what  would  you 
have  me  to  do  ?  " 

"  Leave  the  Castle  instantly,"  said  Ratcliffe,  "  and 
throw  yourself  at  the  feet  of  this  extraordinary  man,  who, 
in  circumstances  that  seem  to  argue  the  extremity  of  the 
most  contemptible  poverty,  possesses  yet  an  almost  abso- 
lute influence  over  your  fate. — Guests  and  servants  are 
deep  in  their  carouse — the  leaders  sitting  in  conclave  on 
their  treasonable  schemes — my  horse  stands  ready  in  the 
stable — I  will  saddle  one  for  you,  and  meet  you  at  the 
little  garden-gate — 0,  let  no  doubt  of  my  prudence  or 
fidelity  prevent  your  taking  the  only  step  in  your  power 
to  escape  the  dreadful  fate  which  must  attend  the  wife 
of  Sir  Frederick  Langley." 

"  Mr.  Ratclitfe,"  said  Miss  Vere,  "  you  have  always 
been  esteemed  a  man  of  honour  and  probity,  and  a 
drowning  wretch  will  always  catch  at  the  feeblest  twig, — 
I  will  trust  you — I  will  follow  your  advice — I  will  meet 
you  at  the  garden-gate." 

She  bolted  the  outer-door  of  her  apartment  as  soon  as 
Mr.  Ratclifi'e  left  her,  and  descended  to  the  garden  by  a 
separate  stair  of  communication  which  opened  to  her 
dressing-room.  On  the  way  she  felt  inclined  to  retract 
the  consent  she  had  so  hastily  given  to  a  plan  so  hopeless 


168  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

and  extravagant.  But  as  she  passed  in  lier  descent  a 
private  door  which  entered  into  the  chapel  from  the  back 
stair,  she  heard  the  voice  of  the  female  servants  as  they 
were  employed  in  the  task  of  cleaning  it. 

"  Married  !  and  to  sae  bad  a  man — Ewhow,  sirs  !  ony 
thing  rather  than  that." 

"  They  are  right — they  are  right,"  said  Miss  Vere, 
"  any  thing  rather  than  that." 

She  hurried  to  the  garden.  Mr.  RatclifFe  was  true  to 
his  appointment^-the  horses  stood  saddled  at  the  garden- 
gate,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  were  advancing  rapidly 
towards  the  hut  of  the  Solitary. 

Wliile  the  ground  was  favourable,  the  speed  of  their 
joui'ney  was  such  as  to  prevent  much  communication ; 
but  when  a  steep  ascent  compelled  them  to  slacken  their 
pace,  a  new  cause  of  apprehension  occurred  to  Miss 
Vei'e's  mind. 

"  Mr.  Ratcliffe,"  she  said,  pulling  up  her  horse's  bridle, 
"  let  us  prosecute  no  farther  a  journey  which  nothing  but 
the  exti'eme  agitation  of  my  mind  can  vindicate  my  hav- 
ing undertaken — I  am  well  aware  that  this  man  passes 
among  the  vulgar  as  being  possessed  of  supei^natural 
powers,  and  carrying  on  an  intercourse  with  beings  of 
another  world  ;  but  I  would  have  you  aware  I  am  neither 
to  be  imposed  on  by  such  follies,  nor,  were  I  to  beheve  in 
then'  existence,  durst  I,  with  my  feelings  of  rehgion, 
apply  to  this  being  in  my  distress." 

"  I  should  have  thought,  Miss  Vere,"  replied  RatclifFe, 
"  my  chai'acter  and  habits  of  thinking  were  so  well  known 
to  you,  that  you  might  have  held  me  exculpated  from 
crediting. any  such  absurdity." 

"  But  in  what  other  mode,"  said  Isabella,  "can  a  being, 
so  miserable  himself  in  appearance,  possess  the  power  of 
assisting  me  ?  " 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  169 

"  Miss  Vere,"  said  RatclifFe,  after  a  momentary  pause, 
"  I  am  bound  by  a  solemn  oath  of  secrecy — You  must, 
without  farther  explanation,  be  satisfied  with  my  pledged 
assurance,  that  he  does  possess  the  power,  if  you  can 
inspire  him  with  the  will ;  and  that,  I  doubt  not,  you  will 
be  able  to  do." 

"  Mr.  RatclifFe,"  said  IVIiss  Vere,  "  you  may  yourself  be 
mistaken  ;  you  ask  an  unlimited  degree  of  confidence 
from  me." 

"  Recollect,  Miss  Vere,"  he  replied,  "  that  when,  in 
your  humanity,  you  asked  me  to  interfere  with  your 
father  in  favour  of  Haswell  and  his  ruined  family — when 
you  requested  me  to  prevail  on  him  to  do  a  thing  most 
abhorrent  to  his  nature — to  forgive  an  injury  and  remit 
a  penalty — I  stipulated  that  you  should  ask  me  no 
questions  concerning  the  sources  of  my  influence — You 
found  no  reason  to  distrust  me  then,  do  not  distrust  me 
now." 

"  But  the  extraordinary  mode  of  life  of  this  man,"  said 
Miss  Vere  ;  "  his  seclusion — his  figure — the  deepness  of 
misanthropy  which  he  is  said  to  express  in  his  language 
— Mr.  Ratcliffe,  what  can  I  think  of  him  if  he  really 
possesses  the  powers  you  ascribe  to  him?  " 

"  This  man,  young  lady,  was  bred  a  Catholic,  a  sect 
which  affords  a  thousand  mstances  of  those  who  have 
retired  from  power  and  affluence  to  voluntaiy  privations 
more  strict  even  than  his." 

"  But  he  avows  no  rehgious  motive,"  replied  Miss 
Vere. 

"  No,"  replied  Ratcliffe ;  "  disgust  with  the  world  has 
operated  his  retreat  from  it  without  assuming  the  veil  of 
superstition.  Thus  far  I  may  tell  you — he  was  born  to 
great  wealth,  which  his  parents  designed  should  become 


170  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

greater  by  his  union  with  a  kinswoman,  whom  for  that 
purpose  they  bred  up  in  their  own  house.  You  have 
seen  his  figure  ;  judge  what  the  young  lady  must  have 
thought  of  the  lot  to  which  she  was  destined — Yet  habit- 
uated to  his  appearance,  she  showed  no  reluctance,  and 

the  friends  of of  the  person  whom  I  speak  of,  doubted 

not  that  the  excess  of  his  attachment,  the  various  acquisi- 
tions of  his  mind,  his  many  and  amiable  quahties,  had 
overcome  the  natural  horror  which  his  destined  bride 
must  have  entertained  at  an  exterior  so  dreadfully  inau- 
spicious." 

"  And  did  they  judge  truly  ?  "  said  Isabella. 

"  You  shall  hear.  He,  at  least,  was  fully  aware  of  his 
own  deficiency  ;  the  sense  of  it  haunted  him  like  a  phan- 
tom. '  I  am,'  was  his  own  expression  to  me, — I  mean  to 
a  man  whom  he  trusted, — '  I  am,  in  spite  of  what  you 
would  say,  a  poor  miserable  outcast,  fitter  to  have  been 
smothered  in  the  cradle  than  to  have  been  brought  up  to 
scare  the  world  in  which  I  crawl.'  The  person  whom  he 
addressed  in  vain  endeavoured  to  impress  him  with  the 
indifference  to  external  form,  which  is  the  natural  result 
of  philosophy,  or  entreat  him  to  recall  the  superiority  of 
mental  talents  to  the  more  attractive  attributes  that  are 
merely  personal.  '  I  hear  you,'  he  would  reply  ;  '  but 
you  speak  the  voice  of  cold-blooded  stoicism,  or,  at  least, 
of  friendly  partiality.  But  look  at  every  book  which  we 
have  read,  those  excepted  of  that  abstract  philosophy 
which  feels  no  responsive  voice  in  our  natural  feelings. 
Is  not  personal  form,  such  as  at  least  can  be  tolerated 
without  horror  and  disgust,  always  represented  as  essential 
to  our  ideas  of  a  friend,  far  more  a  lover  ?  Is  not  such  a 
mis-shapen  monster  as  I  am  excluded,  by  the  vei*y  fiat 
of  Nature,  from  her  fairest  enjoyments  ?     What  but  my 


THE    BLACK    DWAKF.  171 

wealth  prevents  all — perhaps  even  Letitia,  or  you — ^trom 
shunning  me  as  something  foreign  to  your  nature,  and 
more  odious,  by  bearing  that  distorted  resemblance  to 
humanity  which  we  observe  in  the  animal  tribes  that  are 
more  hateful  to  man  because  they  seem  his  caricature? '" 

"  You  repeat  the  sentiments  of  a  madman,"  said  Miss 
Vere. 

"  No,"  replied  her  conductor,  "  unless  a  morbid  and 
excessive  sensibility  on  such  a  subject  can  be  termed 
insanity.  Yet  I  will  not  deny  that  this  governing  feeling 
and  apprehension  carried  the  person  who  entertained  it 
to  lengths  which  indicated  a  deranged  imagination.  He 
appeared  to  think  that  it  was  necessary  for  him,  by  exu- 
berant, and  not  always  well-chosen  instances  of  liberality, 
and  even  profusion,  to  unite  himself  to  the  human  race, 
from  which  he  conceived  himself  naturally  dissevered. 
The  benefits  which  he  bestowed,  from  a  disposition  natu- 
rally philanthropical  in  an  uncommon  degi'ee,  were  exag- 
gerated by  the  influence  of  the  goading  reflection,  that 
more  was  necessary  from  him  than  from  others, — lavish- 
ing his  treasures  as  if  to  bribe  mankind  to  receive  him 
into  their  class.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  the 
bounty  which  flowed  from  a  source  so  capricious  was 
often  abused,  and  his  confidence  frequently  betrayed. 
These  disappointments,  which  occur  to  all,  more  or  less, 
and  most  to  such  as  confer  benefits  without  just  discrimi- 
nation, his  diseased  fancy  set  down  to  the  hatred  and 
contempt  excited  by  his  personal  deformity. — But  I 
fatigue  you.  Miss  Vere  ?  " 

"  No,  by  no  means  ;  I — I  could  not  prevent  my  atten- 
tion from  wandering  an  instant ;  pray  proceed." 

"  He  became  at  length,"  continued  Ratcliflfe,  "  the  most 
ingenious  self-tormentor  of  whom  I  have  ever  heard ;  the 


172  "WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

scoff  of  the  rabble,  and  the  sneer  of  the  yet  more  brutal 
vulgar  of  his  owii  rank,  was  to  him  agony  and  breaking 
on  the  wheel.  He  regarded  the  laugh  of  the  common 
people  whom  he  passed  on  the  street,  and  the  suppressed 
titter,  or  yet  more  offensive  terror,  of  the  young  girls  to 
whom  he  was  introduced  in  company,  as  proofs  of  the 
true  sense  which  the  world  entertained  of  him,  as  a 
prodigy  unfit  to  be  received  among  them  on  the  usual 
terms  of  society,  and  as  vindicating  the  wisdom  of  his 
purpose  in  withdrawing  himself  from  among  them.  On 
the  faith  and  sincerity  of  two  persons  alone,  he  seemed 
to  rely  implicitly — on  that  of  his  betrothed  bride,  and  of 
a  friend  eminently  gifted  in  personal  accomplishments, 
who  seemed,  and  indeed  probably  was,  sincerely  attached 
to  him.  He  ought  to  have  been  so  at  least,  for  he  was 
literally  loaded  with  benefits  by  him  whom  you  are  now 
about  to  see.  The  parents  of  the  subject  of  my  story 
died  within  a  short  space  of  each  other.  Their  death 
postponed  the  marriage,  for  which  the  day  had  been 
fixed.  The  lady  did  not  seem  greatly  to  mourn  this 
delay, — perhaps  that  was  not  to  have  been  expected ; 
but  she  intimated  no  change  of  intention,  when,  after  a 
decent  intervtd,  a  second  day  w^as  named  for  their  union. 
The  friend  of  whom  I  spoke  was  then  a  constant  resident 
at  the  Hall.  In  an  evil  hour,  at  the  earnest  request  and 
entreaty  of  this  friend,  they  joined  a  general  party,  where 
men  of  different  political  opinions  were  mingled,  and 
where  they  drank  deep.  A  quarrel  ensued ;  the  friend 
of  the  Recluse  drew  his  sword  with  others,  and  was 
thrown  down  and  disarmed  by  a  more  powerful  antago- 
nist. They  fell  in  the  struggle  at  the  feet  of  the  Recluse, 
who,  maimed  and  truncated  as  his  form  appears,  pos- 
sesses, nevertheless,  great  strength,  as  well  as  violent  pas- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  173 

sions.  He  caught  up  a  sword,  pierced  the  heart  of  his 
friend's  antagonist,  was  tried,  and  his  life,  with  difficulty, 
redeemed  from  justice,  at  the  expense  of  a  year's  close 
imprisonment,  the  punishment  of  manslaughter.  The 
incident  affected  him  most  deeply,  the  more  that  the 
deceased  was  a  man  of  excellent  character,  and  had  sus- 
tained gross  insult  and  injury  ere  he  drew  his  sword.  I 
think,  from  that  moment,  I  observed — I  beg  pardon — 
The  fits  of  morbid  sensibility  which  had  tormented  this 
unfortunate  gentleman,  were  rendered  henceforth  more 
acute  by  remorse,  which  he,  of  all  men,  was  least  capa- 
ble of  having  incurred,  or  of  sustaining  when  it  became 
his  unhappy  lot.  His  paroxysms  of  agony  could  not  be 
concealed  from  the  lady  to  whom  he  was  betrothed ;  and 
it  must  be  confessed  they  were  of  an  alarming  and  fear- 
ful nature.  He  comforted  himself,  that,  at  the  expiry  of 
his  imprisonment,  he  could  form  with  his  wife  and  friend 
a  society,  encircled  by  which  he  might  dispense  with 
more  extensive  communication  with  the  world.  He  was 
deceived ;  before  that  term  elapsed,  his  friend  and  his 
betrothed  bride  were  man  and  wife.  The  effects  of  a 
shock  so  dreadful  on  an  ardent  temperament,  a  disposi- 
tion already  soured  by  bitter  remorse,  and  loosened  by 
the  indulgence  of  a  gloomy  imagination  from  the  rest  of 
mankind,  I  cannot  describe  to  you ;  it  was  as  if  the  last 
cable  at  which  the  vessel  rode  had  suddenly  parted,  and 
left  her  abandoned  to  all  the  wild  fury  of  the  tempest 
He  was  placed  under  medical  restraint.  As  a  temporary 
measure  this  might  have  been  justifiable ;  but  his  hard- 
hearted friend,  who,  in  consequence  of  his  marriage,  was 
now  his  nearest  ally,  prolonged  his  confinement,  in  order 
to  enjoy  the  management  of  his  immense  estates.  There 
was  one  who  owed  his  all  to  the  sufferer,  an  humble 


174  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

friend,  but  grateful  and  faithful.  By  unceasing  exertion, 
and  repeated  invocation  of  justice,  he  at  length  succeeded 
in  obtaining  his  patron's  freedom,  and  reinstatement  in 
the  management  of  his  own  property,  to  which  was  soon 
added  that  of  his  intended  bride,  who,  having  died  with- 
out male  issue,  her  estates  reverted  to  him,  as  heir  of 
entail.  But  freedom,  and  wealth,  were  unable  to  restore 
the  equipoise  of  his  mind ;  to  the  former  his  grief  made 
him  indifferent — the  latter  only  served  him  as  far  as  it 
afforded  him  the  means  of  indulging  his  strange  and  way- 
ward fancy.  He  had  renounced  the  Catholic  religion, 
but  perhaps  some  of  its  doctrines  continued  to  influence  a 
mind,  over  which  remorse  and  misanthropy  now  assumed, 
in  appearance,  an  unbounded  authority.  His  life  has 
since  been  that  alternately  of  a  pilgrim  and  a  hermit,  suf- 
fex'ing  the  most  severe  privations,  not  indeed  in  ascetic 
devotion,  but  in  abhoi-rence  of  mankind.  Yet  no  man's 
words  and  actions  have  been  at  such  a  wide  difference, 
nor  has  any  hypocritical  wretch  ever  been  more  ingenious 
in  assigning  good  motives  for  his  vile  actions,  than  this 
unfortunate  in  reconciling  to  his  abstract  principles  of 
misanthropy  a  conduct  which  flows  from  his  natural  gen- 
erosity and  kindness  of  feeling." 

"  Still,  Mr.  Ratcliffe — still  you  describe  the  inconsisten- 
cies of  a  madman." 

"  By  no  means,"  replied  Ratcliffe.  "  That  the  imagi- 
nation of  this  gentleman  is  disordered,  I  will  not  pretend 
to  dispute ;  I  have  already  told  you  that  it  has  some- 
times broken  out  into  paroxysms  approaching  to  real 
mental  alienation.  But  it  is  of  his  common  state  of  mind 
that  I  speak ;  it  is  irregular,  but  not  deranged ;  the 
sh'ades  are  as  gradual  as  those  that  divide  the  light  of 
noonday  from  midnight.      The  courtier   who   ruins  his 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  175 

fortune  for  tlie  attainment  of  a  title  which  can  do  him  no 
good,  or  power  of  which  he  can  make  no  suitable  or 
creditable  use,  the  miser  who  hoards  his  useless  wealth, 
and  the  prodigal  who  squanders  it,  are  all  marked  with  a 
certain  shade  of  insanity.  To  criminals  who  are  guilty 
of  enormities,  when  the  temptation  to  a  sober  mind,  bears 
no  proportion  to  the  horror  of  the  act,  or  the  probability 
of  detection  and  punishment,  the  same  observation  ap- 
plies ;  and  every  violent  passion,  as  well  as  anger,  may 
be  termed  a  short  madness." 

"This  may  be  all  good  philosophy,  Mr.  Ratcliffe," 
answered  Miss  Vere  ;  "  but  excuse  me,  it  by  no  means 
emboldens  me  to  visit,  at  this  late  hour,  a  person  whose 
extravagance  of  imagination  you  yourself  can  only  pal- 
liate." 

"  Rather,  then,"  said  Ratcliffe,  "  receive  my  solemn 
assurances,  that  you  do  not  incur  the  slightest  danger. 
But  what  I  have  been  hitherto  afraid  to  mention,  for 
fear  of  alarming  you,  is,  that  now  when  we  are  within  sight 
of  his  retreat,  for  I  can  discover  it  through  the  twi- 
light, I  must  go  no  farther  with  you  ;  you  must  proceed 
alone." 

"  Alone  ? — I  dare  not." 

"  You  must,"  continued  Ratcliffe ;  "  I  will  remain  here 
and  wait  for  you." 

"  You  will  not,  then,  stir  from  this  place,"  said  Miss 
Vere  ;  "  yet  the  distance  is  so  great,  you  could  not  hear 
me  were  I  to  cry  for  assistance." 

"  Fear  nothing,"  said  her  guide  ;  "  or  observe,  at  least, 
the  utmost  caution  in  stifling  every  expression  of  timidity. 
Remember,  that  his  predominant  and  most  harassing  ap- 
prehension arises  from  a  consciousness  of  the  hideousness 
of  his  appearance.     Your  path  lies  straight  beside  yon 


176  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

half-fallen  willow ;  keep  the  left  side  of  it ;  the  marsh 
lies  on  the  right.  Farewell  for  a  time.  Remember  the 
evil  you  are  threatened  with,  and  let  it  overcome  at  once 
your  fears  and  scruples." 

"  Mr.  Ratcliffe,"  said  Isabella,  farewell ;  "  if  you  have 
deceived  one  so  unfortunate  as  myself,  you  have  for  ever 
forfeited  the  fair  character  for  probity  and  honour  to  which 
I  have  trusted." 

"  On  my  life — on  my  soul,"  continued  Ratcliffe,  raising 
his  voice  as  the  distance  between  them  increased,  "  you 
are  safe — perfectly  safe." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  177 


CHAPTER  XVL 


'Twas  time  and  griefs 


That  framed  him  thus:  Time,  with  his  fairer  hand, 
Offering  the  fortunes  of  his  former  days, 
The  former  man  may  make  him. — Bring  us  to  him. 
And  chance  it  as  it  may. 

Old  Plat. 

The  sounds  of  Ratcliffe's  voice  had  died  on  Isabella's 
ear;  but  as  she  frequently  looked  back,  it  was  some  en- 
couragement to  her  to  discern  his  form  now  darkening  in 
the  gloom.  Ere,  however,  she  went  much  farther,  she 
lost  the  object  in  the  increasing  shade.  The  last  glimmer 
of  the  twilight  placed  her  before  the  hut  of  the  Solitary. 
She  twice  extended  her  hand  to  the  door,  and  twice  she 
withdrew  it ;  and  when  she  did  at  length  make  the  effort, 
the  knock  did  not  equal  in  violence  the  throb  of  her  own 
bosom.  Her  next  effort  was  louder;  her  third  was 
reiterated,  for  the  fear  of  not  obtaining  the  protection 
from  which  Ratcliffe  promised  so  much,  began  to  over- 
power the  terrors  of  his  presence  from  whom  she  was  to 
request  it.  At  length,  as  she  still  received  no  answer, 
she  repeatedly  called  upon  the  Dwarf  by  his  assumed 
name,  and  requested  him  to  answer  and  open  to  her. 

"  What  miserable  being  is  reduced,"  said  the  appaUing 
voice  of  the  Solitary,  "  to  seek  refuge  here  ?  Go  hence ; 
when  the  heath-fowl  need  shelter,  they  seek  it  not  in  the 
nest  of  the  night-raven." 

VOL.  XI.  12 


178  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

« I  come  to  you,  father,"  said  Isabella,  "  in  my  hour  of 
adversity,  even  as  you  yourself  commanded,  when  you 
promised  your  heart  and  your  door  should  be  open  to  my 

distress  ;  but  I  fear " 

"  Ha ! "  said  the  Sohtary,  "  then  thou  art  Isabella 
Vere  ?     Give  me  a  token  that  thou  art  she." 

"  I  have  brought  you  back  the  rose  which  you  gave 
me  ;  it  has  not  had  time  to  fade  ere  the  hard  fate  you 
foretold  is  come  upon  me  !  " 

"  And  if  thou  hast  thus  redeemed  thy  pledge,"  said  the 
Dwarf,  "  I  will  not  forfeit  mine.  The  heart  and  the  door 
that  are  shut  against  every  other  earthly  being,  shall  be 
open  to  thee  and  to  thy  sorrows." 

She  heard  him  move  in  his  hut,  and  presently  after- 
wards strike  a  light.  One  by  one,  bolt  and  bar  were  then 
withdrawn,  the  heart  of  Isabella  throbbing  higher  as  these 
obstacles  to  their  meeting  were  successively  removed. 
The  door  opened,  and  the  Solitary  stood  before  her,  his 
uncouth  form  and  features  illuminated  by  the  iron  lamp 
which  he  held  in  his  hand. 

"  Enter,  daughter  of  affliction,"  he  said, — "  enter  the 
house  of  misery." 

She  entered,  and  observed,  with  a  precaution  which 
increased  her  trepidation,  that  the  Recluse's  first  act,  after 
setting  the  lamp  upon  the  table,  was  to  replace  the 
numerous  bolts  which  secured  the  door  of  his  hut.  She 
shrunk  as  she  heard  the  noise  which  accompanied  this 
ominous  operation,  yet  remembered  Ratchffe's  caution, 
and  endeavoured  to  suppress  all  appearance  of  apprehen- 
sion. The  light  of  the  lamp  was  weak  and  uncertain ; 
but  the  Solitary,  without  taking  immediate  notice  of 
Isabella,  otherwise  than  by  motioning  her  to  sit  down  on 
a  small  settle  beside  the  fire-place,  made  haste  to  kindle 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  179 

some  dry  furze,  which  presently  cast  a  blaze  through  the 
cottage.  Wooden  shelves,  which  bore  a  few  books,  some 
bundles  of  dried  herbs,  and  one  or  two  wooden  cups  and 
platters,  were  on  one  side  of  the  fire  ;  on  the  other  were 
placed  some  ordinary  tools  of  field-labour,  mingled  with 
those  used  by  mechanics.  Where  the  bed  should  have 
been,  there  was  a  wooden  frame,  strewed  with  withered 
moss  and  rushes,  the  couch  of  the  ascetic.  The  whole 
space  of  the  cottage  did  not  exceed  ten  feet  by  six  within 
the  walls ;  and  its  only  furniture,  besides  what  we  have 
mentioned,  was  a  table  and  two  stools  formed  of  rough 
deals. 

Wluiin  these  narrow  precincts  Isabella  now  found  her- 
self enclosed  with  a  being,  whose  history  had  nothing  to 
reassure  her,  and  the  fearful  conformation  of  whose 
hideous  countenance  inspired  an  almost  superstitious 
terror.  He  occupied  the  seat  opposite  to  her,  and  drop- 
ping his  huge  and  shaggy  eyebrows  over  his  piercing 
black  eyes,  gazed  at  her  in  silence,  as  if  agitated  by  a 
variety  of  contending  feelings.  On  the  other  side  sate 
Isabella,  pale  as  death,  her  long  hair  uncurled  by  the 
evening  damps,  and  falling  over  her  shoulders  and  breast, 
as  the  wet  streamers  droop  from  the  mast  when  the  storm 
has  passed  away,  and  left  the  vessel  stranded  on  the 
beach.  The  Dwarf  first  broke  the  silence  with  the 
sudden,  abrupt,  and  alarming  question, — "  Woman,  what 
evil  fate  has  brought  thee  hither  ?" 

"  My  father's  danger,  and  your  own  command,"  she 
replied  faintly,  but  firmly. 

"  And  you  hope  for  aid  from  me  ?  " 

"  If  you  can  bestow  it,"  she  replied,  still  in  the  same 
tone  of  mild  submission. 

"  And  how  should  I  possess  that  power  ? "  continued 


180  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

the  Dwarf,  with  a  bitter  sneer ;  "  Is  mine  the  form  of  a 
redresser  of  wrongs  ?  Is  this  the  castle  in  which  one 
powerful  enough  to  be  sued  to  by  a  fair  suppliant  is  hkely 
to  hold  his  residence  ?  I  but  mocked  thee,  gii-1,  when  I 
said  I  would  relieve  thee." 

"  Then  must  I  depart,  and  face  my  fate  as  I  best 
may." 

"  No ! "  said  the  Dwarf,  rising  and  intei'posing  between 
her  and  the  door,  and  motioning  to  her  sternly  to  I'esume 
her  seat — "  No  !  you  leave  me  not  in  this  way  ;  we  must 
have  farther  conference.  Why  should  one  being  desire 
aid  of  another?  Why  should  not  each  be  sufficient  to 
itself?  look  round  you — I,  the  most  despised  ancPmost 
decrepit  on  Nature's  common,  have  required  sympathy 
and  help  from  no  one.  These  stones  are  of  my  own 
piling;  these  utensils  I  framed  with  my  own  hands;  and 

with  this  " and  he  laid  his  hand  with  a  fierce  smile  on 

the  long  dagger  which  he  always  wore  beneath  his  gar- 
ment, and  unsheathed  it  so  far  that  the  blade  glimmered 
clear  in  the  fire-light — "  With  this,"  he  pursued,  as  he 
thrust  the  weapon  back  into  the  scabbard,  "  I  can,  if 
necessary,  defend  the  vital  spark  enclosed  in  this  poor 
trunk,  against  the  fairest  and  strongest  that  shall  threaten 
me  with  injury." 

It  was  with  difficulty  Isabella  refrained  from  screaming 
out  aloud  ;  but  she  did  refrain. 

"  This,"  continued  the  Recluse,  "  is  the  life  of  nature, 
solitary,  self-sufficing,  and  independent.  The  wolf  calls 
not  the  wolf  to  aid  him  in  forming  his  den ;  and  the  vul- 
ture invites  not  another  to  assist  her  in  striking  down  her 
prey." 

"  And  when  they  are  unable  to  procure  themselves 
support,"  said  Isabella,  judiciously  thinking  he  would  be 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  181 

most  accessible  to  argument  couched  in  his  own  meta- 
phorical style,  "  what  then  is  to  befall  them?  " 

"  Let  them  starve,  die,  and  be  forgotten  :  it  is  the  com- 
mon lot  of  humanity." 

"  It  is  the  lot  of  the  wild  tribes  of  nature,"  said  Isabella, 
"but  chiefly  of  those  who  are  destined  to  support  them- 
selves by  rapine,  which  brooks  no  partner ;  but  it  is  not 
the  law  of  nature  in  general ;  even  the  lower  orders  have 
confederacies  for  mutual  defence.  But  mankind — the 
race  would  perish  did  they  cease  to  aid  each  other. — 
From  the  time  that  the  mother  binds  the  child's  head, 
till  the  moment  that  some  kind  assistant  wipes  the  death- 
damp  from  the  brow  of  the  dying,  we  cannot  exist  without 
mutual  help.  All,  therefore,  that  need  aid,  have  right  to 
ask  it  of  their  fellow-mortals  ;  no  one  who  has  the  power 
of  granting  can  refuse  it  without  guilt." 

"  And  in  this  simple  hope,  poor  maiden,"  said  the  Soli- 
tary, "  thou  hast  come  into  the  desert,  to  seek  one  whose 
wish  it  were  that  the  league  thou  hast  spoken  of  were 
broken  for  ever,  and  that,  in  very  truth,  the  whole  race 
should  perish  ?     Wert  thou  not  frightened  ?  " 

"  Misery,"  said  Isabella,  firmly,  "  is  superior  to  fear." 

"  Hast  thou  not  heard  it  said  in  thy  mortal  world  that 
I  have  leagued  myself  with  other  powers,  deformed  to  the 
eye,  and  malevolent  to  the  human  race  as  myself?  Hast 
thou  not  heard  this  ? — And  dost  thou  seek  my  cell  at 
midnight  ?  " 

"  The  being  I  worship  supports  me  against  such  idle 
fears,"  said  Isabella;  but  the  increasing  agitation  of  her 
bosom  belied  the  affected  courage  which  her  words 
expressed. 

"  Ho  !  ho  !  "  said  the  Dwarf,  "  thou  vauntest  thyself  a 
philosopher  ?     Yet,  shouldst  thou  not  have  thought  of  the 


182  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

danger  of  intrusting  thyself,  young  and  beautiful,  in  the 
power  of  one  so  spited  against  humanity,  as  to  place  his 
chief  pleasure  in  defacing,  destroying,  and  degrading  her 
fairest  works  ?  " 

Isabella,  much  alarmed,  continued  to  answer  with  firm- 
ness, "  Whatever  injuries  you  may  have  sustained  in  the 
world,  you  are  incapable  of  revenging  them  on  one  who 
never  wronged  you,  nor,  wilfully,  any  other." 

"  Ay,  but  maiden,"  he  continued,  his  dark  eyes  flashing 
with  an  expression  of  malignity  which  communicated 
itself  to  his  wild  and  distorted  features,  '''  revenge  is  the 
hungry  wolf,  which  asks  only  to  tear  flesh  and  lap  blood. 
Think  you  the  lamb's  plea  of  innocence  would  be  listened 
to  by  him  ?  " 

"  Man  ! "  said  Isabella,  rising,  and  expressing  herself 
with  much  dignity,  "  I  fear  not  the  horrible  ideas  with 
which  you  would  impress  me.  I  cast  them  from  me  with 
disdain.  Be  you  mortal  or  fiend,  you  would  not  offer 
injury  to  one  who  sought  you  as  a  suppliant  in  her 
utmost  need.     You  would  not — you  durst  not." 

"  Thou  say'st  truly,  maiden,"  rejoined  the  Solitary ;  "  I 
dare  not — I  would  not.  Begone  to  thy  dwelling.  Fear 
nothing  with  which  they  threaten  thee.  Thou  hast  asked 
my  protection — thou  shalt  find  it  effectual." 

"  But,  father,  this  very  night  I  have  consented  to  wed 
tlie  man  that  I  abhor,  or  I  must  put  the  seal  to  my  father's 
ruin." 

"  This  night  ? — at  what  hour  ?  " 

"  Ere  midnight  ?  " 

"  And  twihght,"  said  the  Dwarf,  "  has  already  passed 
away.  But  fear  nothing,  there  is  ample  time  to  protect 
thee." 

"  And  my  father  ?  "  continued  Isabella  in  a  suppliant 
tone. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  183 

"  Thy  father,"  replied  the  Dwarf,  "  has  been,  and  is, 
my  most  bitter  enemy.  But  fear  not;  thy  virtue  shall 
save  him.  And  now,  begone ;  were  I  to  keep  thee  longer 
by  me,  I  might  again  fall  into  the  stupid  dreams  concern- 
ing human  worth  from  which  I  have  been  so  fearfully 
awakened.  But  fear  nothing — at  the  very  foot ,  of  the 
altar  I  will  redeem  thee.  Adieu,  time  presses,  and  I 
must  act ! " 

He  led  her  to  the  door  of  the  hut,  which  he  opened  for 
her  departure.  She  remounted  her  horse,  which  had 
been  feeding  in  the  outer  enclosure,  and  pressed  him 
forward  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  which  was  now  rising, 
to  the  spot  where  she  had  left  Ratcliffe. 

"  Have  you  succeeded  ?  "  was  his  first  eager  question. 
"  I  have  obtained  promises  from  him  to  whom  you  sent 
me  ;  but  how  can  he  possibly  accomplish  them  ?  " 

"  Thank  God  !  "  said  Ratcliffe,  "  doubt  not  his  power 
to  fulfil  his  promise." 

At  this  moment  a  shriU  whistle  was  heard  to  resound 
along  the  heath. 

"  Hark  ! "  said  Ratcliffe,  "  he  calls  me — Miss  Vere, 
return  home,  and  leave  unbolted  the  postern-door  of  the 
garden  ;  to  that  which  opens  on  the  back  stairs  I  have  a 
private  key." 

A  second  whistle  was  heard,  yet  more  shrill  and  pro- 
longed than  the  first. 

"  I  come,  I  come,"  said  Ratcliffe  ;  and  setting  spurs  to 
his  horse,  rode  over  the  heath  in  the  direction  of  the 
Recluse's  hut.  Miss  Vere  returned  to  the  Castle,  the 
mettle  of  the  animal  on  which  she  rode,  and  her  own 
anxiety  of  mind,  combining  to  accelerate  her  journey. 

She  obeyed  Ratcliffe's  directions,  though  without  well 
apprehending  their  purpose,  and  leaving  her  horse  at 


184  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

large  in  a  paddock  near  the  garden,  hurried  to  her  own 
apartment,  which  she  reached  without  observation.  She 
now  unbolted  her  door,  and  rang  her  beU  for  lights.  Her 
father  appeared  along  with  the  servant  who  answered  her 
summons. 

"He  had  been  twice,"  he  said,  "  listening  at  her  door 
during  the  two  hours  that  had  elapsed  since  he  left  her, 
and,  not  hearing  her  speak,  had  become  apprehensive 
that  she  was  taken  ill." 

"  And  now,  my  dear  father,"  she  said,  "  permit  me  to 
claim  the  promise  you  so  kindly  gave ;  let  the  last  moments 
of  freedom  which  I  am  to  enjoy  be  mine  without  interrup- 
tion ;  and  protract  to  the  last  moment  the  respite  which  is 
allowed  me," 

"  I  will,"  said  her  father ;  "  nor  shall  you  be  again 
interrupted.  But  this  disordered  dress — this  dishevelled 
hair — do  not  let  me  find  you  thus  when  I  call  on  you 
again  ;  the  sacrifice,  to  be  beneficial,  must  be  voluntary." 

"  Must  it  be  so  ?  "  she  replied ;  "  then  fear  not,  my 
father !  the  victim  shall  be  adorned." 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  185 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

This  looks  not  like  a  nuptial. 

Much  Ado  about  NoTHma. 

The  chapel  in  the  castle  of  Ellieslaw,  destined  to  be 
the  scene  of  this  ill-omened  union,  was  a  building  of  much 
older  date  than  the  castle  itself,  though  that  claimed  con- 
siderable antiquity.  Before  the  wars  between  England 
and  Scotland  had  become  so  common  and  of  such  long 
duration,  that  the  buildings  along  both  sides  of  the  Border 
were  chiefly  dedicated  to  warlike  purposes,  there  had  been 
a  small  settlement  of  monks  at  Elli(;slaw,  a  dependency, 
it  is  believed  by  antiquaries,  on  the  rich  Abbey  of  Jed- 
burgh. Their  possessions  had  long  passed  away  under 
the  changes  introduced  by  war  and  mutual  ravage.  A 
feudal  castle  had  arisen  on  the  ruin  of  their  cells,  and 
their  chapel  was  included  in  its  precincts. 

The  edifice,  in  its  round  arches  and  massive  pillars,  the 
simplicity  of  which  referred  their  date  to  what  has  been 
called  the  Saxon  architecture,  presented  at  all  times  a 
dark  and  sombre  appearance,  and  had  been  frequently 
used  as  the  cemetery  of  the  family  of  the  feudal  lords,  as 
well  as  formerly  of  the  monastic  brethren.  But  it  looked 
doubly  gloomy  by  the  effect  of  the  few  and  smoky  torches 
which  were  used  to  enlighten  it  on  the  present  occasion, 
and  which,  spreading  a  glare  of  yellow  light  in  their 
immediate  vicinity,  were  surrounded  beyond  by  a  red  and 


186  "WAYERLET    NOVELS. 

purple  halo  reflected  from  their  own  smoke,  and  beyond 
that  again  by  a  zone  of  darkness  which  magnified  the 
extent  of  the  chapel,  while  it  rendered  it  impossible  for 
the  eye  to  ascertain  its  limits.  Some  injudicious  orna- 
ments, adopted  in  haste  for  the  occasion,  rather  added  to 
the  dreariness  of  the  scene.  Old  fragments  of  tapestry, 
torn  from  the  walls  of  other  apartments,  had  been  hastily 
and  partially  disposed  around  those  of  the  chapel,  and 
mingled  inconsistently  *with  scutcheons  and  funeral  em- 
blems of  the  dead,  which  they  elsewhere  exhibited.  On 
each  side  of  the  stone  altar  was  a  monument,  the  appear- 
ance of  which  formed  an  equally  strange  contrast.  On 
the  one  was  the  figure,  in  stone,  of  some  grim  hermit,  or 
monk,  who  had  died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity ;  he  was 
represented  as  recumbent,  in  his  cowl  and  scapulaire, 
with  his  face  turned  upw^ard  as  in  the  act  of  devotion,  and 
his  hands  folded,  from  which  his  string  of  beads  was 
dependent.  On  the  other  side  was  a  tomb,  in  the  Italian 
taste,  composed  of  the  most  beautiful  statuary  marble, 
and  accounted  a  model  of  modern  art.  It  was  erected  to 
the  memory  of  Isabella's  mother,  the  late  Mrs.  Vere  of 
EUieslaw,  who  was  represented  as  in  a  dying  posture, 
while  a  weeping  cherub,  with  eyes  averted,  seemed  in 
the  act  of  extinguishing  a  dying  lamp  as  emblematic  of 
her  speedy  dissolution.  It  was,  indeed,  a  masterpiece  of 
art,  but  misplaced  in  the  rude  vault  to  which  it  had  been 
consigned.  Many  were  surprised,  and  even  scandalized, 
that  EUieslaw,  not  remarkable  for  attention  to  his  lady 
while  alive,  should  erect  after  her  death  such  a  costly 
mausoleum  in  affected  sorrow ;  others  cleared  him  from 
the  imputation  of  hypocrisy,  and  averred  that  the  monu- 
ment had  been  constructed  under  the  direction  and  at 
the  sole  expense  of  Mr.  Ratcliffe. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  187 

Befoi'e  these  monuments  the  wedding  guests  were 
assembled.  They  were  few  in  number;  for  many  had 
left  the  castle  to  prepai'e  for  the  ensuing  political  explo- 
sion, and  Ellieslaw  was,  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
far  from  being  desirous  to  extend  invitations  farther  than 
to  those  near  relations  whose  presence  the  custom  of  the 
country  rendered  indispensable.  Next  to  the  altar  stood 
Sir  Frederick  Langley,  dark,  moody,  and  thoughtful, 
even  beyond  his  wont,  and  near  him,  Mareschal,  who  was 
to  play  the  part  of  bridesman,  as  it  was  called.  The 
thoughtless  humour  of  this  young  gentleman,  on  which 
he  never  deigned  to  place  the  least  restraint,  added  to 
the  cloud  which  overhung  the  brow  of  the  bridegroom. 

"  The  bride  is  not  yet  come  out  of  her  chambei-,"  he 
whispered  to  Sir  Frederick ;  "  I  trust  that  we  must  not  have 
recourse  to  the  violent  expedients  of  the  Romans  which 
I  read  of  at  College.  It  would  be  hard  upon  my  pretty 
cousin  to  be  run  away  with  twice  in  two  days,  though  I 
know  none  better  worth  such  a  violent  compliment." 

Sir  Frederick  attempted  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  this  dis- 
course, humming  a  tune,  and  looking  another  way,  but 
Mareschal  proceeded  in  the  same  wild  manner. 

"  This  delay  is  hard  upon  Dr.  Hobbler,  who  was  dis- 
turbed to  accelerate  preparations  for  this  joyful  event 
when  he  had  successfully  extracted  the  cork  of  his  third 
bottle.  I  hope  you  will  keep  him  free  of  the  censure  of 
his  superiors,  for  I  take  it  this  is  beyond  canonical  hours. 
— But  here  comes  Ellieslaw  and  my  pretty  cousin — pret- 
tier than  ever,  I  think,  were  it  not  she  seems  so  faint  and 
so  deadly  pale — Hark  ye,  Sir  Knight,  if  she  says  not  yes 
with  right  good-will,  it  shall  be  no  wedding,  for  all  that 
has  come  and  gone  yet." 

"  No  wedding,  sir  ?  "  returned  Sir  Fi-ederick,  in  a  loud 


188  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

whisper,  the  tone  of  which  indicated  that  his  angry  feel- 
ings were  suppressed  with  ditiiculty. 

"  No — no  marriage,"  rephed  Mareschal,  "  there's  my 
hand  and  glove  on't." 

Sir  Frederick  Langley  tooli  his  hand,  and  as  he  wrung 
it  hard,  said  in  a  lower  whisper,  "  Mareschal,  you  shall 
answer  this,"  and  then  flung  his  hand  from  him. 

"  That  I  will  readily  do,"  said  Mareschal,  "  for  never 
word  escaped  my  lips  that  m}^  hand  was  not  ready  to 
guarantee. — So,  speak  up,  my  pretty  cousin,  and  tell  me 
if  it  be  your  free  will  and  unbiassed  resolution  to  accept 
of  this  gallant  knight  for  your  lord  and  husband  ;  for  if 
you  have  the  tenth  part  of  a  scruple  upon  the  subject, 
fall  back,  fall  edge,  he  shall  not  have  you." 

"  Are  you  mad,  Mr.  Mareschal  ?  "  said  Ellieslaw,  who, 
having  been  this  young  man's  guardian  during  his  minority, 
often  employed  a  tone  of  authority  to  him.  "  Do  you 
suppose  I  would  drag  my  daughter  to  the  foot  of  the 
altar,  were  it  not  her  own  choice  ?  " 

"  Tut,  Ellieslaw,"  retorted  the  young  gentleman,  "never 
tell  me  of  the  contrary ;  her  eyes  are  full  of  tears,  and 
her  cheeks  are  whiter  than  her  white  dress.  I  must 
insist,  in  the  name  of  common  humanity,  that  the  cere- 
mony be  adjourned  till  to-morrow." 

"  She  shall  tell  you  herself,  thou  incorrigible  inter- 
meddler  in  what  concerns  thee  not,  that  it  is  her  wish  the 
ceremony  should  go  on — Is  it  not,  Isabella,  my  dear  ?  " 

"  It  is,"  said  Isabella,  half  fainting — "  since  there  is  no 
help  either  in  God  or  man." 

The  first  word  alone  was  distinctly  audible.  Mareschal 
shrugged  up  his  shoulders  and  stepped  back.  Ellieslaw 
led,  or  rather  supported,  his  daughter  to  the  altar.  Sir 
Frederick  moved  forward  and  placed  himself  by  her  side. 


I 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  189 

The  clergyman  opened  his  prayer-book,  and  looked  to 
Mr.  Vere  for  the  signal  to  commence  the  service. 

"  Proceed,"  said  the  latter. 

But  a  voice,  as  if  issuing  from  the  tomb  of  his  deceased 
wife,  called,  in  such  loud  and  harsh  accents  as  awakened 
every  echo  in  the  vaulted  chapel,  "  Forbear ! " 

All  were  mute  and  motionless,  till  a  distant  rustle,  and 
the  clash  of  swords,  or  something  resembling  it,  was 
beard  from  the  remote  apartments.  It  ceased  almost 
instantly. 

"  What  new  device  is  this  ? "  said  Sir  Frederick, 
fiercely,  eyeing  Ellieslaw  and  Mareschal  with  a  glance  of 
malignant  suspicion. 

"  It  can  be  but  the  frolic  of  some  intemperate  guest," 
said  Ellieslaw,  though  greatly  confounded ;  "  we  must 
make  large  allowances  for  the  excess  of  this  evening's 
festivity.     Proceed  with  the  service." 

Before  the  clergyman  could  obey,  the  same  prohibition 
which  they  had  before  heard  was  repeated  from  the  same 
spot.  The  female  attendants  screamed,  and  fled  from  the 
chapel ;  the  gentlemen  laid  their  hands  on  their  swords. 
Ere  the  first  moment  of  surprise  had  passed  by,  the 
Dwarf  stepped  from  behind  the  monument,  and  placed 
himself  full  in  front  of  Mr.  Vere.  The  efi'ect  of  so 
strange  and  hideous  an  apparition  in  such  a  place  and  in 
such  circumstances,  appalled  all  present,  but  seemed  to 
annihilate  the  Laird  of  Ellieslaw,  who,  dropping  his 
daughter's  arm,  staggered  against  the  nearest  pillar,  and, 
clasping  it  with  his  hands  as  if  for  support,  laid  his  brow 
against  the  column. 

"  Who  is  this  fellow,"  said  Sir  Frederick  ;  "  and  what 
does  he  mean  by  this  intrusion  ?  " 

"  It  is  one  who  comes  to  tell  you,"  said  the  Dwarf,  with 


190  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

the  peculiar  acrimony  which  usually  marked  his  manner, 
"  that,  in  marrying  that  young  lady,  you  wed  neither  the 
heiress  of  EUieslaw,  nor  of  Mauley-Hall,  nor  of  Polver- 
ton,  nor  of  one  furrow  of  land,  unless  she  marries  with 
MT  consent;  and  to  thee  that  consent  shall  never  be 
given.  Down — down  on  thy  knees,  and  thank  Heaven 
that  thou  art  prevented  from  wedding  qualities  with  which 
thou  hast  no  concern — portionless  truth,  virtufe,  and  inno- 
cence. And  thou,  base  ingrate,"  he  continued,  addressing 
himself  to  ^Hieslaw,  "  what  is  thy  wretched  subterfuge 
now  ?  Thou,  who  wouldst  sell  'thy  daughter  to  relieve 
thee  from  danger,  as  in  famine  thou  wouldst  have  slain 
and "  devoured  her  to  preserve  thy  own  vile  life  !  Ay, 
hide  thy  fjice  with  thy  hands ;  well  mayest  thou  blush  to 
look  on  him  whose  body  thou  didst  consign  to  chains,  his 
hand  to  guilt,  and  his  soul  to  misery.  Saved  once  more 
by  the  virtue  of  her  who  calls  you  father,  go  hence,  and 
may  the  pardon  and  benefits  I  confer  on  thee  prove 
literal  coals  of  fire,  till  thy  brain  is  seared  and  scorched 
like  mine  ! " 

Elheslaw  left  the  chapel  with  a  gesture  of  mute  despair. 

"  Follow  him,  Hubert  Ratcliffe,"  said  the  Dwarf,  "  and 
inform  him  of  his  destiny.  He  will  rejoice — for  to 
breathe  air  and  to  handle  gold  is  to  him  happiness." 

"  I  understand  nothing  of  all  this,"  said  Sir  Frederick 
Langley ;  "  but  we  are  here  a  body  of  gentlemen  in 
arms  and  authority  for  King  James ;  and  whether  you 
really,  sir,  be  that  Sir  Edward  Mauley,  who  has  been  so 
long  supposed  dead  in  confinement,  or  whether  you  be  an 
impostor  assuming  his  name  and  title,  we  will  use  the 
freedom  of  detaining  you,  till  your  appearance  here,  at 
this  moment,  is  better  accounted  for ;  we  will  have  no 
spies  among  us.     Seize  on  him,  my  friends." 


THE    BLACK    DWAKF.  191 

But  the  domestics  shrunk  back  in  doubt  and  alarm. 
Sir  Frederick  himself  stepped  forward  towards  the  Re- 
cluse, as  if  to  lay  hands  on  his  person,  when  his  progress 
was  suddenly  stopped  by  the  glittering  point  of  a  partisan, 
which  tlie  sturdy  hand  of  Hobbie  EUiot  presented  against 
his  bosom. 

"  I'll  gar  day-light  shine  through  ye,  if  you  offer  to 
steer  him !  "  said  the  stout  Borderer  ;  "  stand  back,  or 
I'll  strike  ye  through  !  Naebody  shall  lay  a  finger  on 
Elshie ;  he's  a  canny  neighbourly  man,  aye  ready  to 
make  a  friend  help ;  and,  though  ye  may  think  him  a 
lamiter,  yet,  gi-ippie  for  grippie,  friend,  I'll  wad  a  wether 
he'll  make  the  bluid  spin  frae  under  your  nails.  He's  a 
teugh  carle,  Elshie  !  he  grips  like  a  smith's  vice." 

"  What  has  brought  you  here,  Elliot  ?  "  said  Mareschal ; 
"  who  called  on  you  for  interference  ?  " 

"  Troth,  Mareschal- Wells,"  answered  Hobbie,  "  I  am 
just  come  here,  wi'  twenty  or  thretty  mair  o'  us,  in  my 
ain  name  and  the  King's — or  Queen's,  ca'  they  her?  and 
Canny  Elshie's  into  the  bargain,  to  keep  the  peace,  and 
pay  back  some  ill  usage  Ellieslaw  has  gien  me.  A  bonny 
breakfast  the  loons  gae  me  the  ither  morning,  and  him  at 
the  bottom  on't ;  and  trow  ye  I  wasna  ready  to  supper 
him  up  ?  Ye  needna  lay  your  hands  on  your  swords, 
gentlemen,  the  house  is  ours  wi'  little  din ;  for  the  doors 
were  open,  and  there  had  been  ower  muckle  punch  amang 
your  folk ;  we  took  their  swords  and  pistols  as  easily  as 
ye  wad  shiel  peacods." 

Mareschal  rushed  out,  and  immediately  re-entered  the 
chapel. 

"  By  Heaven  !  it  is  true,  Sir  Frederick ;  the  house  is 
filled  with  armed  men,  and  our  drunken  beasts  are  all 
disai-med.     Draw,  and  let  us  fight  our  way." 


192  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  Binna  rash — binna  rash,"  exclaimed  Hobbie ;  "  hear 
me  a  bit.  We  mean  ye  nae  harm;  but,  as  ye  are  in 
arms  for  King  James,  as  ye  ca'  him,  and  the  prelates,  we 
thought  it  right  to  keep  up  the  auld  neighbour  war,  and 
stand  up  for  the  t'other  ane  and  the  Kirk ;  but  we'll  no 
hurt  a  hair  o'  your  heads,  if  ye  like  to  gang  hame  quietly. 
And  it  will  be  your  best  way,  for  there's  sure  news  come 
frae  Loudoun,  that  him  they  ca'  Bang,  or  Byng,  or  what 
is't,  has  bang'd  the  French  ships  and  the  new  king  afF  the 
coast  however;  sae  ye  had  best  bide  content  wi'  auld 
Nanse  for  want  of  a  better  Queen." 

RatclifFe,  who  at  this  moment  entered,  confirmed  these 
accounts  so  unfavourable  to  the  Jacobite  interest.  Sir 
Frederick,  almost  instantly,  and  without  taking  leave  of 
any  one,  left  the  castle,  with  such  of  his  attendants  as 
were  able  to  follow  him. 

"  And  what  will  you  do,  Mr.  Mareschal  ?  "  said  Rat- 
cliffe. 

"  Why,  faith,"  answered  he,  smiling,  "  I  hardly  know ; 
my  spirit  is  too  great,  and  my  fortune  too  small,  for  me  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  doughty  bridegroom.  It  is  not 
in-  my  nature,  and  it  is  hardly  worth  my  while." 

"  Well,  then,  disperse  your  men,  and  remain  quiet,  and 
this  will  be  overlooked,  as  there  has  been  no  overt  act," 

"Hout,  ay,"  said  Elliot,  "just  let  byganes  be  byganes, 
and  a'  friends  again  ;  deil  ane  I  bear  malice  at  but  West- 
burnflat,  and  I  hae  gien  him  baith  a  het  skin  and  a  cauld 
ane.  I  hadna  changed  three  blows  of  the  broadsword  wi' 
him  before  he  lap  the  window  into  the  castle-moat,  and 
swattered  through  it  like  a  wild-duck.  He's  a  clever 
fallow,  indeed  !  maun  kilt  awa  wi'  ae  bonny  lass  in  the 
morning,  and  another  at  night,  less  wadna  serve  him  !  but 
if  he  disna  kilt  himself  out  o'  the  country,  I'se  kilt  him 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  193 

wi'  a  tow,  for  the  Castleton  meeting's  clean  blawu  ower  ; 
his  friends  will  no  countenance  him." 

During  the  general  confusion,  Isabella  had  thrown  her- 
self at  the  feet  of  her  kinsman.  Sir  Edward  Mauley,  for 
so  we  must  now  call  the  Solitary,  to  express  at  once  her 
gratitude,  and  to  beseech  forgiveness  for  her  father.  The 
eyes  of  all  began  to  be  fixed  on  them,  as  soon  as  their 
own  agitation  and  the  bustle  of  the  attendants  had  some- 
what abated.  Miss  Vere  kneeled  beside  the  tomb  of  her 
mother,  to  whose  statue  her  features  exhibited  a  marked 
resemblance.  She  held  the  hand  of  the  Dwarf,  which 
she  kissed  repeatedly  and  bathed  with  tears.  He  stood 
fixed  and  motionless,  excepting  that  his  eyes  glanced 
alternately  on  the  marble  figure  and  tlie  hving  suppliant. 
At  length,  the  large  drops  which  gathered  on  his  eye- 
lashes compelled  him  to  draw  his  hand  across  them. 

"  I  thought,"  he  said,  "  that  tears  and  I  had  done  ;  but 
we  shed  them  at  our  birth,  and  their  spring  dries  not  until 
we  are  in  our  graves.  But  no  melting  of  the  heart  shall 
dissolve  my  resolution.  I  part  here,  at  once,  and  for  ever, 
with  all  of  which  the  memory,"  (looking  to  the  tomb,) 
"  or  the  presence,"  (he  pressed  Isabella's  hand,)  "  is  dear 
to  me.  Speak  not  to  me  !  attempt  not  to  thwart  my  de- 
termination !  it  will  avail  nothing  ;  you  will  hear  of  and 
see  this  lump  of  deformity  no  more.  To  you  I  shall  be 
dead  ere  I  am  actually  in  my  grave,  and  you  will  think 
of  me  as  of  a  friend  disencumbered  from  the  toils  and 
crimes  of  existence." 

He  kissed  Isabella  on  the  forehead,  impressed  another 
kiss  on  the  brow  of  the  statue  by  which  she  knelt,  and 
left  the  chapel  followed  by  Eatcliffe.  Isabella,  almost 
exhausted  by  the  emotions  of  the  day.  was  carried  to  her 
apartment  by  her  women.     Most  of  the  other  guests  dis- 

VOL.  XI.  13 


194  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

persed,  aftei'  having  separately  endeavoured  to  impress  on 
all  who  would  listen  to  them  their  disapprobation  of  the 
plots  formed  against  the  Government,  or  their  regret  for 
having  engaged  in  them.  Hobbie  Elliot  assumed  the 
command  of  the  castle  for  the  night,  and  mounted  a  reg- 
ular guard.  He  boasted  not  a  little  of  the  alacrity  with 
which  his  friends  and  he  had  obeyed  a  hasty  summons 
received  from  Elshie  through  the  faithful  RatclifFe.  And 
it  was  a  lucky  chance,  he  said,  that  on  that  very  day  they 
had  got  notice  that  Westburnfiat  did  not  intend  to  keep 
his  tryste  at  Castleton,  but  to  hold  them  at  defiance  ;  so 
that  a  considerable  party  had  assembled  at  the  lieugh- 
foot,  with  the  intention  of  paying  a  visit  to  the  robber's 
tower  on  the  ensuing  morning,  and  their  course  was  easily 
directed  to  EUieslaw  Castle. 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  195 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


■  Last  scene  of  all, 


To  close  this  strange  eventful  history. 

As  You  Like  rr. 

On  the  next  morning,  Mr.  RatclifFe  presented  Miss 
Vere  with  a  letter  from  her  father,  of  which  the  following 
is  the  tenor  : — 

"  My  dearest  Child, 
"  The  malice  of  a  persecuting  government  will  compel 
me,  for  my  own  safety,  to  retreat  abroad,  and  to  remain 
for  some  time  in  foreign  parts.  I  do  not  ask  you  to 
accompany,  or  follow  me  ;  you  will  attend  to  my  interest 
and  your  own  more  effectually  by  remaining  where  you 
are.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  minute  detail  con- 
cerning the  causes  of  the  strange  events  which  yesterday 
took  place.  I  think  I  have  reason  to  complain  of  the 
usage  I  have  received  from  Sir  Edward  Mauley,  who  is 
your  nearest  kinsman  by  the  mother's  side  ;  but  as  he  has 
declared  you  his  heir,  and  is  to  put  you  in  immediate  pos- 
session of  a  large  part  of  his  fortune,  I  account  it  a  full 
atonement.  I  am  aAvare  he  has  never  forgiven  the  prefer- 
ence which  your  mother  gave  to  my  addresses,  mstead  of 
complying  with  the  terms  of  a  sort  of  family  compact, 
which  absurdly  and  tyrannically  destined  her  to  Aved  her 
deformed  relative.      The   shock  was   even   sufficient  to 


196  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

unsettle  his  wits,  (which,  indeed,  were  never  over-well 
arranged,)  and  I  had,  as  the  husband  of  his  nearest  kins- 
woman and  heir,  the  delicate  task  of  taking  care  of  his 
person  and  property,  until  he  was  reinstated  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  latter  by  those  who,  no  doubt,  thought 
they  were  doing  him  justice ;  although  if  some  parts  of 
his  subsequent  conduct  be  examined,  it  will  appear  that 
he  ought,  for  his  own  sake,  to  have  been  left  under  the 
influence  of  a  mild  and  salutary  restraint. 

"  In  one  particular,  however,  he  shewed  a  sense  of  the 
ties  of  blood,  as  well  as  of  his  own  frailty ;  for  while  he 
sequestered  himself  closely  from  the  world,  under  various 
names  and  disguises,  and  insisted  on  spreading  a  report 
of  his  own  death,  (in  which  to  gratify  him  I  willingly 
acquiesced,)  he  left  at  my  disposal  the  rents  of  a  great 
proportion  of  his  estates,  and  especially  all  those,  which, 
having  belonged  to  your  mother,  reverted  to  him  as  a 
male  fief.  In  this  he  may  have  thought  that  he  was  act- 
ing with  extreme  generosity,  while,  in  the  opinion  of  all 
impartial  men,  he  will  only  be  considered  as  having  ful- 
filled a  natural  obligation,  seeing  that,  in  justice,  if  not  in 
strict  law,  you  must  be  considered  as  the  heir  of  your 
mother,  and  I  as  your  legal  administrator.  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  considering  myself  as  loaded  with  obligations  to 
Sir  Edward  on  this  account,  I  think  I  had  reason  to  com- 
plain that  these  remittances  were  only  doled  out  to  me  at 
the  pleasure  of  Mr.  Ratcliffe,  who,  moreover,  exacted 
from  me  mortgages  over  my  paternal  estate  of  Ellieslaw 
for  any  sums  which  I  required  as  an  extra  advance  ;  and 
thus  may  be  said  to  have  insinuated  himself  into  the  abso- 
lute management  and  control  of  my  property.  Or,  if  all 
this  seeming  friendship  was  employed  by  Sir  Edward  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  complete  command  of  my 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  197 

uifairs,  and  acquiring  the  power  of  ruining  me  at  bi3 
pleasure,  I  feel  myself,  I  must  repeat,  still  less  bound  by 
the  alleged  obligation. 

"About  the  autumn  of  last  year,  as  I  understand,  either 
his  own  ci'azed  imagination,  or  the  accomplishment  of  some 
such  scheme  as  I  have  hinted,  brought  him  down  to  this 
country.  His  alleged  motive,  it  seems,  was  a  desire  of 
seeing  a  monument  which  he  had  directed  to  be  raised  in 
tlie  chapel  over  the  tomb  of  your  mother.  Mr.  Ratcliffe, 
who  at  this  time  had  done  me  the  honour  to  make  my 
house  his  own,  had  the  complaisance  to  introduce  him 
secretly  into  the  chapel.  The  consequence,  as  he  informs 
me,  was  a  frenzy  of  several  hours,  during  which  he  fled 
into  the  neighbouring  mooi's,  in  one  of  the  wildest  spots 
of  which  he  chose,  when  he  was  somewhat  recovered,  to 
fix  his  mansion,  and  set  up  for  a  sort  of  country  empiric, 
a  character  which,  even  in  his  best  days,  he  was  fond  of 
assuming.  It  is  remarkable,  that,  instead  of  informing 
me  of  these  circumstances,  that  I  might  have  had  the 
relative  of  my  late  wife  taken  such  care  of  as  his  calami- 
tous condition  required,  Mr.  Ratcliffe  seems  to  have  had 
such  culpable  indulgence  for  his  irregular  plans  as  to 
promise  and  even  swear  secrecy  concerning  them.  He 
visited  Sir  Edward  often,  and  assisted  in  the  fantastic  task 
he  had  taken  upon  him  of  constructing  a  hermitage. 
Nothing  they  appear  to  have  dreaded  more  than  a  dis- 
covery of  their  intercourse. 

"  The  ground  was  open  in  every  direction  around,  and 
a  small  subterranean  cave,  probably  sepulchral,  which 
their  reseai'ches  had  detected  near  the  great  granite  pillar, 
served  to  conceal  Ratcliffe,  when  any  one  approached  his 
master.  I  think  you  will  be  of  o])inion,  my  love,  that 
this  secrecy  must  have  had  some  strong  motive.     It  is 


198  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

also  remarkable,  that  while  I  thought  ray  unhappy  friend 
was  residing  among  the  INIonks  of  La  Trappe,  he  should 
have  been  actually  living,  for  many  months,  in  this  bizarre 
disguise,  within  five  miles  of  my  house,  and  obtaining 
regulai-  information  of  my  most  private  movements,  either 
by  Ratcliflfe,  or  through  Westburnflat  or  others,  whom  he 
had  the  means  to  bribe  to  any  extent.  He  makes  it  a 
crime  against  me  that  I  endeavoui-ed  to  establish  your 
marriage  with  Sir  Frederick.  I  acted  for  the  best ;  but 
if  Sir  Edward  Mauley  thought  otherwise,  why  did  he  not 
step  manfully  forward,  express  his  own  purpose  of  be- 
coming a  party  to  the  settlements,  and  take  that  interest 
which  he  is  entitled  to  claim  in  you  as  heir  to  his  great 
property  ? 

"  Even  now,  though  your  rash  and  eccentric  relation  is 
somewhat  tardy  in  announcing  his  purpose,  I  am  far  from 
opposing  my  authority  against  his  wishes,  although  the 
person  he  desires  you  to  regard  as  your  future  husband 
be  young  Earnscliff,  the  very  last  whom  I  should  have 
thought  likely  to  be  acceptable  to  him,  considering  a  cer- 
tain fatal  event.  But  I  give  my  free  and  hearty  consent, 
providing  the  settlements  are  drawn  in  such  an  irrevo- 
cable form  as  may  secure  my  child  from  suffering  by  that 
state  of  dependence,  and  that  sudden  and  causeless  revo- 
cation of  allowances,  of  which  I  have  so  much  reason  to 
complain.  Of  Sir  Frederick  Langley,  I  augur,  you  will 
hear  no  more.  He  is  not  likely  to  claim  the  hand  of  a 
dowerless  maiden.  I  therefore  commit  you,  my  dear 
Isabella,  to  the  wisdom  of  Providence  and  to  your  own 
prudence,  begging  you  to  lose  no  time  in  securing  those 
advantages,  which  the  fickleness  of  your  kinsman  has 
withdrawn  from  me  to  shower  upon  you. 

"Mr.  Ratcliffe  mentioned  Sir  Edward's  intention  to 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  199 

settle  a  considerable  sum  upon  me  yearly,  for  ray  main- 
tenance in  foreign  parts  ;  but  this  my  heai't  is  too  proud 
to  accept  from  him.  I  told  him  I  had  a  dear  child,  who, 
while  in  affluence  herself,  would  never  suffer  me  to  be  in 
poverty.  I  thought  it  right  to  intimate  this  to  him  pretty 
roundly,  that  whatever  increase  be  settled  upon  you,  it 
may  be  calculated  so  as  to  cover  this  necessary  and 
natural  encumbrance.  I  shall  willingly  settle  upon  you 
the  castle  and  manor  of  EUieslaw,  to  shew  my  parental 
affection  and  disinterested  zeal  for  promoting  your  settle- 
ment in  life.  The  annual  interest  of  debts  charged  on 
the  estate  somewhat  exceeds  the  income,  even  after  a 
reasonable  rent  has  been  put  upon  the  mansion  and 
mains.  But  as  all  the  debts  are  in  the  person  of  Mr. 
Ratcliffe,  as  your  kinsman's  trustee,  he  will  not  be  a 
troublesome  creditor.  And  here  I  must  make  you  aware, 
that  though  I  have  to  complain  of  Mr.  Ratcliffe's  conduct 
to  me  personally,  I,  nevertheless,  believe  him  a  just  and 
upright  man,  with  whom  you  may  safely  consult  on  your 
affairs,  not  to  mention  that  to  cherish  his  good  opinion 
will  be  the  best  way  to  retain  that  of  your  kinsman. 
Remember  me  to  Marchie — I  hope  he  will  not  be  troubled 
on  account  of  late  matters.  I  will  write  more  fully  from 
the  Continent.     Meanwhile,  I  rest  your  loving  father, 

'•  Richard  Vere." 

The  above  letter  throws  the  only  additional  light 
which  we  have  been  able  to  procure  upon  the  earlier  part 
of  our  story.  It  was  Hobbie's  opinion,  and  may  be  that 
of  most  of  our  readers,  that  the  Recluse  of  Mucklestane- 
Moor  had  but  a  kind  of  gloaming,  or  twilight  understand- 
ing ;  and  that  he  had  neither  very  clear  views  as  to  what 
he  himself  wanted,  nor  was  apt  to  pursue  his  ends  by  the 


200  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

clearest  and  most  direct  means :  so  that  to  seek  the  clew 
of  his  conduct,  was  likened,  by  Hobbie,  to  looking  for  a 
straight  path  through  a  common,  over  which  are  a  hun- 
dred devious  tracks,  but  not  one  distinct  line  of  road. 

When  Isabella  had  perused  the  letter,  her  first  inquiry 
was  after  her  father.  He  had  left  the  castle,  she  was 
informed,  early  in  the  morning,  after  a  long  interview 
with  Mr.  RatclitFe,  and  was  already  far  on  his  way  to  the 
next  port,  where  he  might  expect  to  find  shipping  for  the 
Continent. 

"  Where  was  Sir  Edward  Mauley  ?  " 

No  one  had  seen  the  dwarf  since  the  eventful  scene  of 
the  preceding  evening. 

"  Odd,  if  ony  thing  has  befa'en  puir  Elshie,"  said  Hob- 
bie Elliot,  "  I  wad  rather  I  were  harried  ower  again." 

He  immediately  rode  to  his  dwelling,  and  the  remain- 
ing she-goat  came  bleating  to  meet  him,  for  her  milking- 
time  was  long  past.  The  Solitary  was  nowhere  to  be 
seen ;  his  door,  contrary  to  wont,  was  open,  his  fire  ex- 
tinguished, and  the  whole  hut  was  left  in  the  state  which 
it  exhibited  on  Isabella's  visit  to  him.  It  was  pretty 
clear  that  the  means  of  conveyance  which  had  brought 
the  Dwarf  to  Ellieslaw  on  the  preceding  evening,  had 
removed  him  from  it  to  some  other  place  of  abode.  Hob- 
bie returned  disconsolate  to  the  castle. 

"  I  am  doubting  we  hae  lost  Canny  Elshie  for  gude 
an'  a'." 

"  You  have  indeed,"  said  RatclifFe,  producing  a  paper, 
which  he  put  into  Hobble's  hands ;  "  but  read  that,  and 
you  will  perceive  you  have  been  no  loser  by  having 
known  him." 

It  was  a  short  deed  of  gift,  by  which  "  Sir  Edward 
Mauley,  otherwise  called  Elshender  the  Recluse,  endowed 


THE   BLACK   DWARF.  201 

Halbei't  ov  Hobbie  Elliot,  and  Grace  Armstrong,  in  full 
property,  with  a  considerable  sum  borrowed  by  Elliot 
from  liini." 

Hobbie's  joy  was  mingled  with  feehngs  which  brought 
tears  down  his  rough  cheeks. 

"  It's  a  queer  thing,"  he  said  ;  "  but  I  canna  joy  in  the 
gear,  unless  I  kend  the  puir  body  was  happy  that  gave 
it  me." 

"  Next  to  enjoying  happiness  ourselves,"  said  Eatcliffe, 
"  is  the  consciousness  of  having  bestowed  it  on  others. 
Had  all  my  master's  benefits  been  conferred  like  the 
present,  what  a  dilfin'ent  return  would  they  have  pi-o- 
duced  !  But  the  indiscriminate  pi'ofusion  that  would  glut 
avarice,  or  supply  prodigality,  neither  does  good,  nor  is 
rewarded  by  gratitude.  It  is  sowing  the  wind  to  reap 
the  whirlwind." 

"  And  that  wad  be  a  light  har'st,"  said  Hobbie  ;  "  but, 
wi'  my  young  leddie's  leave,  I  wad  fain  take  down 
Elshie's  skeps  o'  bees,  and  set  them  in  Grace's  bit  flower 
yard  at  the  Heugh-foot — they  shall  ne'er  be  smeekit  by 
ony  o'  huz.  And  the  puir  goat,  she  would  be  negleckit 
about  a  great  toun  like  this  ;  and  she  could  feed  bonnily 
on  our  lily  lea  by  the  burn  side,  and  the  hounds  wad  ken 
her  in  a  day's  time,  and  never  fash  her,  and  Grace  wad 
milk  her  ilka  morning  wi'  her  ain  hand,  for  Elshie's  sake ; 
for  though  he  was  thrawn  and  cankered  in  his  converse, 
he  likeit  dumb  creatures  week" 

Hobbie's  requests  were  readily  granted,  not  without 
some  wonder  at  the  natural  delicacy  of  feeling  which 
pointed  out  to  him  this  mode  of  displaying  his  gratitude. 
He  was  delighted  when  Ratcliffe  informed  him  that  his 
benefactor  should  not  remain  ignorant  of  the  care  which 
he  took  of  his  favourite. 


202  WAVERLEY    KOVELS. 

"  And  mind  be  sure  and  tell  him  that  grannie  and  the 
titties,  and,  abune  a',  Grace  and  mysell,  are  weel  and 
thriving,  and  that  it's  a'  his  doing — that  canna  but  please 
him,  ane  wad  think." 

And  Elliot  and  the  family  at  Heugh-foot  were,  and 
continued  to  be,  as  fortunate  and  happy  as  his  undaunted 
honesty,  tenderness,  and  gallantry,  so  well  merited. 

All  bar  between  the  marriage  of  Earnscliff  and  Isabella 
was  now  removed,  and  the  settlements  which  Ratcliffe 
produced  on  the  part  of  Sir  Edward  Mauley,  might  have 
satisfied  the  cupidity  of  Ellieslaw  himself.  But  Miss 
Vere  and  Ratcliffe  thought  it  unnecessary  to  mention  to 
Earnscliff  that  one  great  motive  of  Sir  Edward,  in  thus 
loading  the  young  pair  with  benefits,  was  to  expiate  his 
having,  many  years  before,  shed  the  blood  of  his  father 
in  a  hasty  brawl.  If  it  be  true,  as  Ratcliffe  asserted,  that 
the  Dwarf's  extreme  misanthi-opy  seemed  to  relax  some- 
what, under  the  consciousness  of  having  diffused  happiness 
among  so  many,  the  recollection  of  this  circumstance 
might  probably  be  one  of  his  chief  motives  for  refusing 
obstinately  ever  to  witness  their  state  of  contentment. 

INIareschal  hunted,  shot,  and  drank  claret — tired  of  the 
country,  went  abroad,  served  three  campaigns,  came 
home,  and  married  Lucy  Ilderton. 

Years  fled  over  the  heads  of  Earnscliff  and  his  wife, 
and  found  and  left  them  contented  and  happy.  The 
scheming  ambition  of  Sir  Frederick  Langley  engaged 
him  in  the  unfortunate  insurrection  of  1715.  He  was 
made  prisoner  at  Preston,  in  Lancashire,  with  the  Earl 
of  Derwentwater,  and  others.  His  defence,  and  the  dying 
speech  which  he  made  at  his  execution,  may  be  found  in 
the  State  Trials.  Mr.  Vere,  supplied  by  his  daughter 
with  an  ample  income,   continued  to  reside  abroad,  en- 


THE    BLACK    DWARF.  203 

gaged  deeply  in  the  affair  of  Law's  bank  during  the 
regency  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  was  at  one  time 
supposed  to  be  immensely  rich.  But,  on  the  bursting  of 
that  famous  bubble,  he  was  so  much  chagrined  at  being 
again  reduced  to  a  moderate  annuity,  (although  he  saw 
thousands  of  his  companions  in  misfortune  absolutely 
starving,)  that  vexation  of  mind  brought  on  a  paralytic 
stroke,  of  which  he  died,  after  lingering  under  its  effects  a 
few  weeks. 

Willie  of  Westburnfiat  fled  from  the  wrath  of  Hobble 
Elliot,  as  his  betters  did  from  the  pursuit  of  the  law.  His 
patriotism  urged  him  to  serve  his  country  abroad,  while 
his  reluctance  to  leave  his  native  soil  pressed  him  rather 
to  remain  in  the  beloved  island,  and  collect  purses, 
watches,  and  rings  on  the  highroads  at  home.  For- 
tunately for  him,  the  first  impulse  prevailed,  and  he 
joined  the  army  under  Marlborough  ;  obtained  a  com- 
mission, to  which  he  was  recommended  by  his  services  in 
collecting  cattle  for  the  commissariat;  returned  home 
after  many  years,  with  some  money,  (how  come  by 
Heaven  only  knows,) — demolished  the  peel-house  at 
Westburnfiat,  and  built,  in  its  stead,  a  high  narrow  on- 
stead,  of  three  stories,  with  a  chimney  at  each  end — drank 
brandy  with  the  neighbours,  whom,  in  his  younger  days, 
he  had  plundered — died  in  his  bed,  and  is  recorded  upon 
his  tombstone  at  Kirkwhistle,  (still  extant,)  as  having 
played  all  the  parts  of  a  brave  soldier,  a  discreet  neigh- 
bour, and  a  sincere  Christian. 

Mr.  Ratcliffe  resided  usually  with  the  family  at  EUies- 
law,  but  regularly  every  spring  and  autumn  he  absented 
himself  for  about  a  month.  On  the  direction  and  purpose 
of  his  periodical  journey  he  remained  steadily  silent;  but 
it  was  well  understood  that  he  was  then  in  attendance  on 


204  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

his  unfortunate  patron.  At  length,  on  his  return  from 
one  of  these  visits,  his  grave  countenance,  and  deep 
mourning  dress,  announced  to  the  EUieslaw  family  that 
their  benefactor  was  no  more.  Sir  Edward's  death  made 
no  addition  to  their  fortune,  for  he  had  divested  himself 
of  his  property  during  his  lifetime,  and  chiefly  in  their 
favour.  RatclifFe,  his  sole  confidant,  died  at  a  good  old 
age,  but  without  ever  naming  the  place  to  which  his 
master  had  finally  retired,  or  the  manner  of  his  death,  or 
the  place  of  his  burial.  It  was  supposed  that  on  all  these 
particulars  his  patron  had  enjoined  him  strict  secrecy. 

The  sudden  disappearance  of  Elshie  from  his  extra- 
ordinary hermitage  corroborated  the  reports  which  the 
common  people  had  spread  concerning  him.  Many  be- 
lieved that,  having  ventured  to  enter  a  consecrated  build- 
ing, contrary  to  his  paction  Avith  the  Evil  One,  he  had 
been  bodily  carried  off  Avhile  on  his  return  to  his  cottage ; 
but  most  are  of  opinion  that  he  only  disappeared  for  a 
season,  and  continues  to  be  seen  from  time  to  time  among 
the  hills.  And  retaining,  according  to  custom,  a  more 
vivid  recollection  of  his  wild  and  desperate  language,  than 
of  the  benevolent  tendency  of  most  of  his  actions,  he  is 
usually  identified  with  the  malignant  demon  called  the 
Man  of  the  Moors,  whose  feats  were  quoted  by  Mrs. 
Elliot  to  her  grandsons ;  and,  accordingly,  is  generally 
represented  as  bewitching  the  sheep,  causing  the  ewes  to 
keb,  that  is,  to  cast  their  lambs,  or  seen  loosening  the  im- 
pending wreath  of  snow  to  precipitate  its  weight  on  such 
as  take  shelter,  during  the  storm,  beneath  the  bank  of  a 
torrent,  or  under  the  shelter  of  a  deep  glen.  In  short, 
the  evils  most  dreaded  and  deprecated  by  the  inhabitants 
of  that  pastoral  country,  are  ascribed  to  the  agency  of  the 
Black  Dwarf. 


A  LEGEND  OF  MONTROSE. 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE. 


Introduction — (1829.) 

The  Legend  of  Montuose  was  written  chiefly  with 
a  view  to  place  before  the  reader  the  melancholy  fate  of 
John  Lord  Kilpont,  eldest  son  of  William  Earl  of  Airth 
and  Menteith,  and  the  singular  circumstances  attending 
the  birth  and  history  of  James  Stewart  of  Ardvoirlich, 
by  whose  hand  the  unfortunate  nobleman  fell. 

Our  subject  leads  us  to  talk  of  deadly  feuds,  and  we 
must  begin  with  one  still  more  ancient  than  that  to  which 
our  story  relates.  During  the  reign  of  James  IV.  a  great 
feud  between  the  powerful  families  of  Drummond  and 
Murray  divided  Perthshire.  The  former,  being  the 
most  numerous  and  powerful,  cooped  up  eight  score  of 
the  Murrays  in  the  kirk  of  INIonivaird,  and  set  fire  to  it. 
The  wives  and  the  children  of  the  ill-fated  men,  who  had 
also  found  shelter  in  the  church,  perished  by  the  same 
conflagration.  One  man,  named  David  Murray,  escaped 
by  the  humanity  of  one  of  the  Drummonds,  who  received 
him  in  his  arms  as  he  leaped  from  amongst  the  flames. 
As  King  James  IV.  ruled  with  more  activity  than  most 
of  his  predecessors,  this  cruel  deed  was  severely  revenged, 
and  several  of  the  perpetrators  were  beheaded  at  Stirling. 


208  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

In  consequence  of  the  prosecution  against  his  clan,  the 
Drummond  by  whose  assistance  David  Murray  had 
escaped,  fled  to  Ireland,  until,  by  means  of  the  person 
whose  life  he  had  saved,  he  was  permitted  to  return  to 
Scotland,  where  he  and  his  descendants  were  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Drummond  Eirinich,  or  Ernoch,  that  is, 
Drummond  of  Ireland  ;  and  the  same  title  was  bestowed 
on  their  estate. 

The  Drummond-Ernoch  of  James  the  Sixth's  time  was 
a  king's  forester  in  the  forest  of  Glenartney,  and  chanced 
to  be  employed  there  in  search  of  venison  about  the  year 
1588,  or  early  in  1589.  This  forest  was  adjacent  to  the 
chief  haunts  of  the  MacGregors,  or  a  particular  race  of 
them,  known  by  the  title  of  MacEagh  or  Children  of  the 
Mist.  They  considered  the  forester's  hunting  in  their 
vicinity  as  an  aggression,  or  perhaps  they  had  him  at 
feud,  for  the  apprehension  or  slaughter  of  some  of  their 
own  name,  or  for  some  similar  reason.  This  tribe  of 
MacGregors  were  outlawed  and  persecuted,  as  the  reader 
may  see  in  the  Introduction  to  Rob  Roy ;  and  every 
man's  hand  being  against  them,  their  hand  was  of 
course  directed  against  every  man.  In  short,  they  sur- 
prised and  slew  Drummond-Ernoch,  cut  off  his  head,  and 
carried  it  with  them,  wrapt  in  the  corner  of  one  of  their 
plaids. 

In  the  full  exultation  of  vengeance,  they  stopped  at  the 
house  of  Ardvoirlich  and  demanded  refreshment,  which 
the  lady,  a  sister  of  the  murdered  Drummond-Ernoch, 
(her  husband  being  absent,)  was  afraid  or  unwilling  to 
refuse.  She  caused  bread  and  cheese  to  be  placed  before 
them,  and  gave  directions  for  more  substantial  i-efresh- 
ments  to  be  prepared.  While  she  was  absent  with  this 
hospitable  intention,  the  barbarians  placed  the  head  of  her 


INTRODUCTION  TO  A  LEGEND  OF  MONTROSE.      209 

brother  on  the  table,  filling  the  mouth  with  bread  and 
cheese,  and  bidding  him  eat,  for  many  a  merry  meal  he 
had  eaten  in  that  house.  The  poor  woman  returning 
and  beholding  this  dreadful  sight,  shrieked  aloud,  and 
fled  into  the  woods,  where,  as  described  in  the  romance, 
she  roamed  a  raving  maniac,  and  for  some  time  secreted 
herself  from  all  living  society.  Some  remaining  instinc- 
tive feeling  brought  her  at  length  to  steal  a  glance  from  a 
distance  at  the  maidens  while  they  milked  the  cows, 
which  being  observed,  her  husband,  Ardvoirlich,  had  her 
conveyed  back  to  her  home,  and  detained  her  there  till 
she  gave  birth  to  a  child,  of  whom  she  had  been  pregnant ; 
after  which  she  was  observed  gradually  to  recover  her 
mental  faculties. 

Meanwhile  the  outlaws  had  carried  to  the  utmost  their 
insults  against  the  regal  authority,  which  indeed,  as  exer- 
cised, they  had  little  reason  for  respecting.  They  bore 
the  same  bloody  trophy,  which  they  had  so  savagely 
exhibited  to  the  lady  of  Ardvoirlich,  into  the  old  church 
of  Balquidder,  nearly  in  the  centre  of  their  country, 
where  the  Laird  of  MacGregor  and  all  his  clan,  being 
convened  for  the  purpose,  laid  their  hands  successively 
on  the  dead  man's  head,  and  swore,  in  heathenish  and 
barbarous  manner,  to  defend  the  author  of  the  deed. 
This  fierce  and  vindictive  combination  gave  the  author's 
late  and  lamented  friend.  Sir  Alexander  Boswell,  Bart., 
subject  for  a  spirited  poem,  entitled  "  Clan  Alpine's 
Vow,"  which  was  printed,  but  not,  I  believe,  published,  in 
1811.* 

The  fact  is  ascertained  by  a  proclamation  from  the 
Privy  Council,  dated  4th  February,  1589,  directing  let- 
ters of  fire  and  sword  against  the  MacGregors.f  This 
*  See  Appendix  No.  I.  p.  218.  f  See  Appendix  No.  II.  p.  219. 

VOL.  XI.  14 


210  WAVEELEY   NOVELS. 

fearful  commission  was  executed  with  uncommon  fury. 
The  late  excellent  John  Buchanan  of  Cambusmore  shewed 
the  author  some  correspondence  between  his  ancestor,  the 
Laird  of  Buchanan,  and  Lord  Drummond,  about  sweep- 
ing certain  valleys  with  their  followers,  on  a  fixed  tima 
and  rendezvous,  and  "  taking  sweet  revenge  for  the  death 
of  their  cousin,  Drummond-Ernoch."  In  spite  of  all, 
however,  that  could  be  done,  the  devoted  tribe  of  Mac- 
Gregor  still  bi'ed  up  survivors  to  sustain  and  to  inflict 
new  cruelties  and  injuries.* 

Meanwhile  young  James  Stewart  of  Ardvoirlich  grew 
up  to  manhood  uncommonly  tall,  strong,  and  active,  with 
such  power  in  the  gi-asp  of  his  hand  in  particular,  as 
could  force  the  blood  from  beneath  the  nails  of  the  per- 
sons who  contended  with  him  in  this  feat  of  strength. 
His  temper  was  moody,  fierce,  and  irascible  ;  yet  he  must 
have  had  some  ostensible  good  qualities,  as  he  was  greatly 
beloved  by  Lord  Kilpont,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Airth  and  Menteith. 

This  gallant  young  nobleman  joined  Montrose  in  the 
setting  up  his  standard  in  1644,  just  before  the  deci- 
sive battle  at  Tippermuir,  on  the  1st  September  in  that 
year.  At  that  time,  Stewart  of  Ardvoirlich  shared  the 
confidence  of  the  young  Lord  by  day,  and  his  bed  by 

*  I  embrace  the  opportunity  given  me  by  a  second  mention  of  tiiis 
tribe  to  notice  an  error,  which  imputes  to  an  individual  named  Ciar 
Jlohr  Mac-Gregor  the  slaughter  of  tlie  students  at  tlie  battle  of  Glen- 
fruin.  I  am  informed  from  the  authority  of  John  Gregorson,  Esq., 
that  the  chieftain  so  named  was  dead  nearly  a  century  before  the  bat- 
tle in  question,  and  could  not,  therefore,  have  done  the  cruel  action 
mentioned.  The  mistake  does  not  rest  with  me,  as  I  disclaimed  being 
responsible  for  the  tradition  while  I  quoted  it,  but  with  vulgai-  fame, 
which  is  always  disposed  to  ascribe  remarkable  actions  to  a  remark- 
able name. — See  the  erroneous  passage,  Eob  Roy,  Introduction,  p.  13; 
and  so  soft  sleep  the  offended  phantom  of  Dugald  Ciar  Mohr. 


INTRODUCTION    TO   A   LEGEND    OF   MONTROSE.    211 

night,  when,  about  four  or  five  days  after  the  battle,  Ard- 
voirhch,  either  from  a  fit  of  sudden  fury  or  deep  malice 
long  entertained  against  his  unsuspecting  friend,  stabbed 
Lord  Kilpont  to  the  heart,  and  escaped  from  the  camp 
of  Montrose,  having  killed  a  sentinel  who  attempted  to 
detain  him.  Bishop  Guthrie  gives  as  a  reason  for  this 
villainous  action,  that  Lord  Kilpont  had  rejected  with 
abhorrence  a  proposal  of  Ardvoirlich  to  assassinate  Mon- 
trose. But  it  does  not  appear  that  there  is  any  authority 
for  this  charge,  which  rests  on  mere  suspicion.  Ard- 
voirlich, the  assassin,  certainly  did  fly  to  the  Cove- 
nanters, and  was  employed  and  promoted  by  them.  He 
obtained  a  pardon  for  the  slaughter  of  Lord  Kilpont,  con- 
firmed by  Parliament  in  1644,  and  was  made  Major  of 
Argyle's  regiment  in  1648.  Such  are  the  facts  of  the  tale 
here  given  as  a  Legend  of  Montrose's  wars.  The  reader 
will  find  they  are  considerably  altered  in  the  fictitious 
narrative. 

The  author  has  endeavoured  to  enliven  the  tragedy  of 
the  tale  by  the  introduction  of  a  personage  proper  to 
the  time  and  country.  In  this  he  has  been  held  by 
excellent  judges  to  have  been  in  some  degree  successful. 
The  contempt  of  commerce  entertained  by  young  men 
having  some  pretence  to  gentility,  the  poverty  of  the 
country  of  Scotland,  the  national  disposition  to  wandering 
and  to  adventure,  all  conduced  to  lead  the  Scots  abroad 
into  the  military  service  of  countries  which  were  at  war 
with  each  othei\  They  were  distinguished  on  the  Conti- 
nent by  their  bravery  ;  but  in  adopting  the  trade  of  mer- 
cenary soldiers,  they  necessarily  injured  their  national 
character.  The  tincture  of  learning,  which  most  of  them 
possessed,  degenerated  into  pedantry  ;  their  good  breed- 
ing became  mere  ceremonial ;  their  fear  of  dishonour  no 


212  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

longer  kept  them  aloof  from  that  which  was  really  un- 
worthy, but  was  made  to  depend  on  certain  punctilious 
observances  totally  apart  from  that  which  was  in  itself 
deserving  of  praise.  A  cavalier  of  honour,  in  search  of 
his  fortune,  might,  for  example,  change  his  service  as  he 
would  his  shirt ;  fight  like  the  doughty  Captain  Dalgetty, 
in  one  cause  after  another,  without  regard  to  the  justice 
of  the  quarrel,  and  might  plunder  the  peasantry  sub- 
jected to  him  by  the  fate  of  war  with  the  most  unrelent- 
ing rapacity ;  but  he  must  beware  how  he  sustained  the 
slightest  reproach,  even  from  a  clergyman,  if  it  had  regard 
to  neglect  on  the  score  of  duty.  The  following  occurrence 
Avill  prove  the  truth  of  what  I  mean  : — 

"  Here  I  must  not  forget  the  memory  of  one  preacher, 
Master  William  Forbesse  a  preacher  for  souldiers,  yea, 
and  a  captaine  in  neede  to  leade  souldiers  on  a  good 
occasion,  being  full  of  courage,  with  discretion  and  good 
conduct,  beyond  some  captaines  I  have  knowne,  that 
were  not  so  capable  as  he.  At  this  time  he  not  onely 
prayed  for  us,  but  went  on  with  us,  to  remarke,  as  I 
thinke,  men's  carriage ;  and  having  found  a  sergeant 
neglecting  his  dutie  and  his  honour  at  such  a  time, 
(whose  name  I  will  not  expresse,)  having  chidden  him, 
did  promise  to  reveal  him  unto  me,  as  he  did  after  their 
service.  The  sergeant  being  called  before  me,  and  ac- 
cused, did  deny  his  accusation,  alleaging,  if  he  were  no 
pastour  that  had  alleaged  it,  he  would  not  lie  under 
the  injury.  The  preacher  offered  to  fight  with  him,  [in 
proof]  that  it  was  truth  he  had  spoken  of  him ;  where- 
upon I  cashiered  the  sergeant,  and  gave  his  place  to  a 
worthier,  called  Mungo  Gray,  a  gentleman  of  good  worth, 
and  of  much  courage.  The  sergeant  being  cashiered, 
never  called  Master  William  to  account,  for  which  he  was 


INTRODUCTION    TO    A    LEGEND    OF   MONTROSE.    213 

evill  thought  of;  so  that  he  retired  home,  and  quit  the 
warres." 

The  above  quotation  is  taken  from  a  work  which  the 
author  repeatedly  consulted  while  composing  the  follow- 
ing sheets,  and  which  is  in  great  measure  written  in  the 
humour  of  Captain  Dugald  Dalgetty.  It  bears  the  fol- 
lowing formidable  title  : — "  Monro  his  Expedition  with 
the  worthy  Scots  Regiment,  called  MacKeye's  Regiment, 
levied  in  August,  162G,  by  Sir  Donald  MacKeye  Lord 
Rees  Colonel,  for  his  Majestie's  service  of  Denmark,  and 
reduced  after  the  battle  of  Nerling,  in  September  1634, 
at  Wormes,  in  the  Palz.  Discharged  in  several  duties 
and  observations  of  service,  first,  under  the  magnanimous 
King  of  Denmark,  during  his  wars  against  the  Empire ; 
afterwards  under  the  invincible  King  of  Sweden,  during 
his  Majestie's  lifetime  ;  and  since  under  the  Director- 
General,  the  Rex-Chancellor  Oxensterne,  and  his  Gen- 
erals :  Collected  and  gathered  together  at  spare  hours,  by 
Colonel  Robert  Monro,  as  First-Lieutenant  under  the 
said  Regiment  to  the  noble  and  worthy  Captain  Thomas 
MacKenzie  of  Kildon,  brother  to  the  noble  Lord,  the  Lord 
Earl  of  Seaforth,  for  the  use  of  all  noble  Cavaliers  favour- 
ing the  laudable  profession  of  arms.  To  which  is  annexed, 
the  Abridgment  of  Exercise,  and  divers  Practical  Obser- 
vations for  the  Younger  Officer,  his  consideration.  End- 
ing with  the  Soldier's  Meditations  on  going  on  Service." 
— London,  1637. 

Another  worthy  of  the  same  school,  and  nearly  the 
same  views  of  the  military  character,  is  Sir  James  Tur- 
ner, a  soldier  of  fortune,  who  rose  to  considerable  rank 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  had  a  command  in  Galloway 
and  Dumfries-shire,  for  the  suppression  of  conventicles, 
and  was   made   prisoner  by  the  insurgent   Covenanters 


214  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

in  that  rising  which  was  followed  by  the  battle  of  Pent- 
land.  Sir  James  is  a  person  even  of  superior  pretensions 
to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Monro,  having  written  a  military 
Treatise  on  the  Pike  Exercise,  called  "  Pallas  Armata." 
Moreover,  he  was  educated  at  Glasgow  College,  though 
he  escaped  to  become  an  Ensign  in  the  German  wars, 
instead  of  taking  his  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  at  that 
learned  seminary. 

In  latter  times,  he  was  author  of  several  discourses  on 
historical  and  literary  subjects,  from  which  the  Bannatyne 
Club  have  exti-acted  and  printed  such  passages  as  con- 
cern his  Life  aiad  Times,  under  the  title  of  "  Sir  James 
Turner's  Memoirs."  From  this  curious  book  I  extract 
the  following  passage,  as  an  example  of  how  Captain  Dal- 
getty  might  have  recorded  such  an  incident  had  he  kept 
a  journal ;  or,  to  give  it  a  more  just  character,  it  is  such 
as  the  genius  of  De  Foe  would  have  devised,  to  give  the 
minute  and  distinguishing  features  of  truth  to  a  fictitious 
narrative  : — 

"  Heere  I  will  set  doun  ane  accident  befell  me  ;  for 
thogh  it  was  not  a  very  strange  one,  yet"  it  was  a  very 
od  one  in  all  its  parts.  My  tuo  brigads  lay  in  a  village 
within  halfe  a  mile  of  Applebie  ;  my  own  quarter  was  in 
a  gentleman's  house,  who  was  a  Ritmaster,  and  at  that 
time  with  Sir  Marmaduke  ;  his  wife  keepd  her  chamber, 
readie  to  be  brought  to  bed.  The  castle  being  over,  and 
Lambert  farre  enough,  I  resolved  to  goe  to  bed  everie 
night,  haveing  had  fatigue  enough  before.  The  first 
night  I  sleepd  well  enough  ;  and  riseing  nixt  morning,  I 
misd  one  linnen  stockine,  one  halfe  silke  one,  and  one 
boothose,  the  accoustrement  under  a  boote  for  one  leg ; 
neither  could  they  be  found  for  any  search.  Being  pro- 
vided of  more  of  the  same  kind,  I  made  myselfe  reddie, 


INTKODUCTION    TO   A    LEGEND    OF   MONTROSE.    215 

and  rode  to  the  head-quarters.  At  my  returne,  I  could 
heare  no  news  of  my  stockins.  That  night  I  went  to 
bed,  and  nixt  morning  found  myselfe  just  so  used  ;  miss- 
ing the  three  stockins  for  one  leg  onlie,  the  other  three 
being  left  intire  as  they  were  the  day  before.  A  nar- 
rower search  than  the  first  was  made,  bot  without  suc- 
cesse.  I  had  yet  in  reserve  one  paire  of  whole  stockings, 
and  a  paire  of  boothose,  greater  than  the  former.  These 
I  put  on  my  legs.  The  third  morning  I  found  the  same 
usage,  the  stockins  for  one  leg  onlie  left  me.  It  was 
time  for  me  then,  and  my  servants  too,  to  imagine  it 
must  be  rats  that  had  shard  my  stockins  so  inequallie 
with  me  ;  and  this  the  mistress  of  the  house  knew  well 
enough,  bot  wold  not  tell  it  me.  The  roome,  which  was 
a  low  parlour,  being  well  searched  with  candles,  the  top 
of  my  great  boothose  was  found  at  a  hole,  in  which  they 
had  drawne  all  the  rest.  I  went  abroad  and  orderd  the 
boards  to  be  i*aised,  to  see  how  the  rats  had  disposd  of 
my  moveables.  The  mistress  sent  a  servant  of  her  oune 
to  be  present  at  this  action,  which  she  knew  concernd 
her.  One  board  being  bot  a  litle  opend,  a  litle  boy  of 
mine  thrust  in  his  hand,  and  fetchd  with  him  foure  and 
tuentie  old  peeces  of  gold,  and  one  angell.  The  servant 
of  the  house  affirmed  it  appertaind  to  his  mistres.  The 
boy  bringing  the  gold  to  me,  I  went  immediatlie  to  the 
gentlewoman's  chamber,  and  told  her,  it  was  probable 
Lambert  haveing  quarterd  m  that  house,  as  indeed  he 
had,  some  of  his  servants  might  have  hid  that  gold ;  and 
if  so,  it  was  lawfuUie  mine  ;  bot  if  she  could  make  it 
appeare  it  belongd  to  her,  I  sould  immediatUe  give  it 
her.  The  poore  gentlewoman  told  me  with  many  teares, 
that  her  husband  being  none  of  the  frugallest  men,  (and 
indeed  he   was   a   spendthrift,)   she    had   hid  that  gold 


216  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

without  his  knowledge,  to  make  use  of  it  as  she  had  occa- 
sion, especiallie  when  she  lay  in ;  and  conjured  me,  as  I 
lovd  the  King,  (for  whom  her  husband  and  she  had  suf- 
fered much,)  not  to  detaine  her  gold.  She  said,  if  there 
was  either  more  or  lesse  than  foure  and  tuentie  whole 
peeces,  and  two  halfe  ones,  it  sould  be  none  of  hers ;  and 
that  they  were  put  by  her  in  a  red  velvet  purse.  After 
I  had  given  her  assurance  of  her  gold,  a  new  search  is 
made,  the  other  angell  is  found,  the  velvet  purse  all 
gnawd  in  bits,  as  my  stockins  were,  and  the  gold  instant- 
lie  restoz'd  to  the  gentlewoman.  I  have  often  heard  that 
the  eating  or  gnawing  of  cloth  by  rats  is  ominous,  and 
portends  some  mischance  to  fall  on  these  to  whom  the 
cloths  belong.  I  thank  God  I  was  never  addicted  to  such 
divinations,  or  heeded  them.  It  is  true,  that  more  mis- 
fortunes then  one  fell  on  me  shortlie  after ;  hot  I  am  sure 
I  could  have  better  foreseene  them  myselfe  then  rats  or 
any  such  vermine,  and  yet  did  it  not.  I  have  heard  in- 
deed many  fine  stories  told  of  rats,  how  they  abandon 
houses  and  ships,  w^hen  the  first  are  to  be  burnt,  and  the 
second  dround.  Naturalists  say  they  are  very  sagacious 
creatures,  and  I  beleeve  they  are  so ;  bot  I  shall  never  be 
of  the  opinion  they  can  foresee  future  contingencies,  which 
I  suppose  the  divell  himselfe  can  neither  forknow  nor  for- 
tell ;  these  being  things  which  the  Almightie  hath  keepd 
hidden  in  the  bosome  of  his  divine  prescience.  And 
wlfither  the  great  God  hath  preordained  or  predestinated 
these  things,  which  to  us  are  contingent,  to  fall  out  by  aue 
uncontrollable  and  unavoidable  necessitie,  is  a  question 
not  yet  decided."  * 

In  quoting  these  ancient  authorities,  I  must  not  forget 
the  more  modern  sketch  of  a  Scottish  soldier  of  the  old 
*  Sir  James  Turner's  Memoirs,  Bannatyne  Edition,  p.  69. 


INTRODUCTION    TO    A   LEGEND    OF   MONTROSE.    217 

fashion,  by  a  master  hand,  in  the  character  of  Lesmaha- 
gow,  since  the  existence  of  that  doughty  captain  alone 
must  depi"ive  the  present  author  of  all  claim  to  absolute 
originality.  Still  Dalgetty,  as  the  production  of  his  own 
fancy,  has  been  so  far  a  favourite  with  its  parent,  that  he 
has  fallen  into  the  error  of  assigning  to  the  Captain  too 
prominent  a  part  in  the  story.  This  is  the  opinion  of  a 
critic  who  encamps  on  the  highest  pinnacles  of  literature ; 
and  the  author  is  so  far  fortunate  in  having  incurred  his 
censure,  that  it  gives  his  modesty  a  decent  apology  for 
quoting  the  praise,  which  it  would  liave  ill-befitted  him  to 
bring  forward  in  an  unmingled  state.  The.  passage 
occurs  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  55,  containing  a 
criticism  on  Ivanhoe  : — 

"  There  is  too  much,  perhaps,  of  Dalgetty, — or,  rather, 
he  engrosses  too  great  a  proportion  of  the  work, — for,  in 
himself,  we  think  he  is  uniformly  entertaining ;  and  the 
author  has  nowhere  shewn  more  affinity  Jo  that  matchless 
spirit  who  could  bring  out  his  Falstaffs  and  his  Pistols,  in 
act  after  act,  and  play  after  play,  and  exercise  them  every 
time  with  scenes  of  unbounded  loquacity,  without  either 
exhausting  their  humour,  or  varying  a  note  from  its  char- 
acteristic tone,  than  in  his  large  and  reiterated  specimens 
of  the  eloquence  of  the  redoubted  Ritt-master.  The 
general  idea  of  the  character  is  familiar  to  our  comic 
dramatists  after  the  Restoration — and  may  be  said  in 
some  measure  to  be  compounded  of  Captain  Fluellen  and 
Bobadil ;  but  the  ludicrous  combination  of  the  soldado 
with  the  divinity  student  of  Mareschal  College  is  entirely 
original ;  and  the  mixture  of  talent,  selfislmess,  courage, 
coarseness,  and  conceit,  was  never  so  happily  exemphfied. 
Numerous  as  his  speeches  are,  there  is  not  one  that  is  not 
characteristic — and,  to  our  taste,  divertingly  ludicrous." 


218  WAVERLEY    NOVELvS. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. 

The   scarcity  of  my  late  friend's  poem  may  be  an 

excuse  for  adding  the  spirited  conclusion  of  Clan  Alpin's 

Vo\v.     The  Clan  Gregor  has  met  in  the  ancient  Church 

of    Balquidder.      The    head   of    Drummond-Ernoch   is 

placed  on  the  altar,  covered  for  a  time  with  the  banner 

of  the   tribe.     The  Chief  of  the   tribe   advances  to  the 

altar : — 

"  And*  pausing,  on  the  banner  gazed : 
Then  cried  in  scorn,  his  finger  raised, 
'  This  was  the  boon  of  Scotland's  king; ' 
And,  with  a  quick  and  angry  fling. 
Tossing  the  pageant  screen  away, 
The  dead  man's  head  before  him  lay. 
Unmoved  he  scann'd  the  visage  o'er, 
The  clotted  locks  were  dark  with  gore, 
The  features  with  convulsion  grim, 
The  eyes  contorted,  sunk,  and  dim, 
But  unappall'd,  in  angry  mood. 
With  lowering  brow,  unmoved  he  stood, 
Upon  the  head  his  bared  right  hand 
He  laid,  the  other  grasp'd  his  brand: 
Then  kneeling,  cried,  '  To  Heaven,  I  swear 
This  deed  of  death  I  own,  and  share; 
As  truly,  fully  mine,  as  though 
This  my  right  hand  had  dealt  the  blow; 
Come  then,  our  foemen,  one,  come  all; 
If  to  revense  this  caitiff's  fall 


INTRODUCTION    TO    A   LEGEND    OF   AIONTROSE.    219 

One  blade  is  bared,  one  bow  is  drawn, 

Mine  everlasting  peace  I  pawn, 

To  claim  from  tliem,  or  claim  from  him, 

In  retribution,  limb  for  limb. 

In  sudden  fray,  or  open  strife 

This  steel  shall  render  life  for  life.' 

"  He  ceased;  and  at  his  beckoning  nod. 

The  clansmen  to  the  altar  trod; 

And  not  a  wliisper  breathed  around. 

And  nought  was  heard  of  mortal  sound, 

Save  from  the  clanking  arms  they  bore. 

That  rattled  on  the  marble  floor ; 

And  each,  as  he  approach'd  in  haste, 

Upon  the  scalp  his  right  hand  placed; 

With  livid  lip,  and  gather'd  brow, 

Each  utter'd,  in  his  turn,  the  vow. 

Fierce  JIalcolm  watch'd  the  passing  scene, 

And  search'd  them  through  with  glances  keen; 

Then  dash'd  a  tear-drop  from  his  eye; 

Unbid  it  came — he  knew  not  why. 

Exulting  high,  he  towering  stood: 

'  Kinsmen,'  he  cried,  '  of  Alpin's  blood, 

And  worthy  of  Clan  Alpin's  name, 

Unstain'd  by  cowardice  and  shame, 

E'en  do,  spare  nocht,  in  time  of  ill 

Shall  be  Clan  Alpin's  legend  still ! ' " 


No.  II. 

It  has  been  disputed  whether  the  Children  of  the  Mist 
were  actual  MacGregors,  or  whether  they  were  not  out- 
laws, named  MacDonald,  belonging  to  Ardnamurchan. 
The  following  act  of  the  Privy  Council  seems  to  decide 
the  question  : — 

"  Edinburgh,  ith  February,  1589. 

"The  same  dav  the   Lords  of  Secret  Council  being 


220  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

crediblie  informed  of  ye  cruel  and  mischeivous  proceed- 
ing of  ye  wicked  Clangrigor,  so  lang  continueing  in  blood, 
slaughters,  herships,  manifest  reifts,  and  stouths  committed 
upon  his  Hieness'  peaceable  and  good  subjects ;  inhabit- 
ing ye  countries  ewest  ye  brays  of  ye  Highlands,  thir 
money  years  bygone  ;  but  specially  heir  after  ye  cruel 
murder  of  umqll  Jo.  Drummond  of  Drummoneyryuch, 
his  Majesties  proper  tennant,  and  ane  of  his  fosters  of 
Glenartney,  committed  upon  ye  day  of  last 

bypast,  be  certain  of  ye  said  clan,  be  ye  council  and  de- 
termination of  ye  haill,  avow  and  to  defend  ye  authors 
yrof  qoever  wald  persew  for  revenge  of  the  same,  qll  ye 
said  Jo.  was  occupied  in  seeking  of  venison  to  his  Hie- 
ness, at  commond  of  Pat.  Lord  Drummond,  Stewart  of 
Stratharne,  and  principal  forrester  of  Glenartney ;  the 
Queen,  his  Majesties  dearest  spouse,  being  yn  shortlie 
looked  for  to  arrive  in  this  realm.  Likeas,  after  ye  mur- 
der committed,  ye  authors  yrof  cutted  off  ye  said  umqll 
Jo.  Drummond's  head,  and  carried  the  same  to  the  Laird 
of  M'Grigor,  who,  and  the  haill  surname  of  M'Grigors, 
purposely  con  veined  upon  the  Sunday  yrafter,  at  the  Kirk 
of  Buchquhidder ;  qr  they  caused  ye  said  umqll  John's 
head  to  be  pnted  to  ym,  and  yr  avowing  ye  sd  murder  to 
have  been  committed  by  yr  communion,  council,  and  de- 
termination, laid  yr  hands  upon  the  pow,  and  in  eithnik, 
and  barbarous  manner,  swear  to  defend  ye  authors  of  ye 
sd  murder,  in  maist  proud  contempt  of  our  sovrn  Lord 
and  his  authoritie,  and  in  evil  example  to  others  wicked 
limmaris  to  do  ye  hke,  give  ys  sail  be  suffered  to  remain 
unpunished." 

Then  follows  a  commission  of  the  Earls  of  Huntly, 
Argyle,  Athole,  Montrose,  Pat.  Lord  Drummond,  Ja. 
Commendator  of  Incheffray,  And.  Campbel  of  Lochinnel, 


INTRODUCTION    TO    A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.    221 

Duncan  Campbel  of  Ardkinglas,  Lauchlane  M'Intosh  of 
Dunnauclitane,  Sir  Jo.  Murrya  of  Tullibarden,  knt.,  Geo. 
Buchanan  of  that  Ilk,  and  And.  M'Farlane  of  Ariquocher, 
to  search  for  and  apprehend  Alaster  M'Grigor  of  Glenstre, 
(and  a  number  of  others  nominatim,)  "  and  all  others  of 
the  said  Clangrigor,  or  ye  assistars,  culpable  of  the  said 
odious  murther,  or  of  thift,  reset  of  thift,  herships,  and 
sornings,  qrever  they  may  be  apprehended.  And  if  they 
refuse  to  be  taken,  or  flees  to  strengths  and  houses,  to 
pursue  and  assege  them  with  fire  and  sword ;  and  this 
commission  to  endure  for  the  space  of  three  years." 

Such  was  the  system  of  police  in  1589  ;  and  such  the 
state  of  Scotland  nearly  thirty  years  after  the  Reforma- 
tion. 


POSTSCRIPT. 


While  these  pages  were  passing  through  the  press,  the 
author  received  a  letter  from  the  present  Robert  Stewart 
of  Aj-dvoirlich,  favouring  him  with  the  account  of  the 
unhappy  slaughter  of  Lord  Kilpont,  differing  from,  and 
more  probable  than,  that  given  by  Bishop  Wishart,  whose 
narrative  infers  either  insanity  or  the  blackest  treachery 
on  the  part  of  James  Stewart  of  Ardvoirlich,  the  ancestor 
of  the  present  family  of  that  name.  It  is  but  fair  to  give 
the  entii-e  communication  as  received  from  my  respected 
correspondent,  which  is  more  minute  than  the  histories 
of  the  period. 

"  Although  I  have  not  the  honour  of  being  personally 
known  to  you,  I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  now 


222  WAVERLEY   NOTELS. 

take,  in  addressing  you  on  the  subject  of  a  transaction 
moi'e  than  once  alluded  to  by  you,  in  which  an  ances- 
tor of  mine  was  unhappily  concerned.  I  allude  to  the 
slaughter  of  Lord  Kilpont,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Airth  and 
Monteith,  in  1644,  by  James  Stewart  of  Ardvoirhch.  As 
the  cause  of  this  unhappy  event,  and  the  quarrel  which 
led  to  it  have  never  been  correctly  stated  in  any  history 
of  the  period  in  Avhich  it  took  place,  I  am  induced,  in 
consequence  of  your  having,  in  the  second  series  of  your 
admirable  Tales  on  the  History  of  Scotland,  adopted 
Wishart's  version  of  the  transaction,  and  being  aware 
that  your  having  done  so  will  stamp  it  with  an  authen- 
ticity which  it  does  not  merit,  and  with  a  view,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  do  justice  to  the  memory  of  my  unfortunate 
ancestor,  to  send  you  the  account  of  this  affair  as  it  has 
been  handed  down  in  the  family. 

"  James  Stewart  of  Ardvoirlich,  who  lived  in  the  early 
part  of  the  17th  century,  and  who  was  the  unlucky  cause 
of  the  slaughter  of  Lord  Kilpont,  as  before  mentioned, 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  one  of  several  indepen- 
dent companies  raised  in  the  Highlands  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  troubles  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I. ;  another 
of  these  companies  was  under  the  command  of  Lord 
Kilpont,  and  a  strong  intimacy,  strengthened  by  a  distant 
relationship,  subsisted  between  them.  When  Montrose 
raised  the  royal  standard,  Ardvoirlich  was  one  of  the  first 
to  declare  for  him,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  principal 
means  of  bringing  over  Lord  Kilpont  to  the  same  cause ; 
and  they  accordingly,  along  with  Sir  John  Drummond  and 
their  respective  followers,  joined  Montrose,  as  recorded  by 
Wishart,  at  Buchanty.  "VVliile  they  served  together,  so 
strong  was  their  intimacy,  that  they  lived  and  slept  in  the 
same  tent. 


INTRODUCTION   TO    A   LEGEND    OF   MONTROSE.    223 

"  In  the  meantime,  Montrose  had  been  joined  by  the 
Irish,  under  the  command  of  Alexander  Macdonald ;  these, 
on  their  march  to  join  Montrose,  had  committed  some  ex- 
cesses on  lands  belonging  to  Ardvoirlich,  which  lay  in  the 
line  of  their  march  from  the  west  coast.  Of  this  Ard- 
voirlich complained  to  Montrose,  who,  probably  wishing 
as  much  as  possible  to  conciliate  his  new  allies,  treated  it 
in  rather  an  evasive  manner.  Ardvoirlich,  Avho  was  a 
man  of  violent  passions,  having  failed  to  r(;ceive  such 
satisfaction  as  he  required,  challenged  Macdonald  to 
single  combat.  Before  they  met,  however,  Montrose,  on 
the  information  and  by  advice,  as  it  is  said,  of  Kilpont, 
laid  them  both  under  arrest.  Monti'ose.  seeing  the  evils 
of  such  a  feud  at  such  a  critical  time,  effected  a  sort  of 
reconciliation  between  them,  and  forced  them  to  shake 
hands  in  his  presence  ;  when,  it  was  said,  that  Ardvoirlich, 
who  was  a  very  powerful  man,  took  such  a  hold  of  Mac- 
donald's  hand  as  to  make  the  blood  start  from  his  fingers. 
Still,  it  would  appear,  Ardvoirlich  was  by  no  means 
reconciled. 

"A  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Tippermuir,  when 
Montrose  with  his  army  was  encamped  at  Collace,  an 
entertainment  was  given  by  him  to  his  officers,  in  honour 
of  the  victory  he  had  obtained,  and  Kilpont  and  his  com- 
rade Ardvoirlich  were  of  the  party.  After  returning  to 
their  quarters,  Ardvoirlich,  who  seemed  still  to  brood  over 
his  quarrel  with  Macdonald,  and  being  heated  with  drink, 
began  to  blame  Lord  Kilpont  for  the  part  he  had  taken 
in  preventing  his  obtaining  redress,  and  reflecting  against 
Montrose  for  not  allowing  him  what  he  considered  proper 
reparation.  Kilpont  of  course  defended  the  conduct  of 
himself  and  his  relative  Montrose,  till  their  argument 
came  to  high  words,  and  finally,  from  the  state  they  were 


224  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

both  in,  by  an  easy  transition,  to  blows,  when  Ardvoirlich, 
with  his  dirk,  struck  Kilpont  dead  on  the  spot.  He  imme- 
diately fled,  and  under  the  cover  of  a  thick  mist  escaped 
pursuit,  leaving  his  eldest  son  Henry,  who  had  been  mor- 
tally wounded  at  Tippermuir,  on  his  death-bed. 

"  His  followers  immediately  withdrew  from  Montrose, 
and  no  course  remained  for  him  but  to  throw  himself  into 
the  arms  of  the  opposite  faction,  by  whom  he  was  well 
received.  His  name  is  frequently  mentioned  in  Leslie's 
campaigns,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion  he  is  men- 
tioned as  having  afforded  protection  to  several  of  his 
former  friends  through  his  interest  with  Leslie,  when  the 
King's  cause  became  desperate. 

"  The  foregoing  account  of  this  unfortunate  transaction, 
I  am  well  aware,  difters  materially  from  the  account  given 
by  Wishart,  who  alleges  that  Stewart  had  laid  a  plot  for 
the  assassination  of  Montrose,  and  that  he  murdered  Lord 
Kilpont  in  consequence  of  his  refusal  to  participate  in  his 
design.  Now,  I  may  be  allowed  to  remark,  that  besides 
Wishart  having  always  been  regarded  as  a  partial  his- 
torian, and  very  questionable  authority  on  any  subject 
connected  with  the  motives  or  conduct  of  those  who  dif- 
fered from  him  in  opinion,  that  even  had  Stewart  formed 
such  a  design,  Kilpont,  from  his  name  and  connexions, 
was  likely  to  be  the  very  last  man  of  whom  Stewart 
would  choose  to  make  a  confidant  and  accomplice.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  above  account,  though  never,  that  I 
am  aware,  before  hinted  at,  has  been  a  constant  tradition 
in  the  family ;  and,  from  the  comparative  recent  date  of 
the  transaction,  and  the  sources  from  which  the  tradition 
has  been  derived,  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  its  perfect 
authenticity.  It  was  most  circumstantially  detailed  as 
above,  given  to  my  father,  Mr.  Stewart,  now  of  Ard- 


INTRODUCTION   TO   A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE,    225 

voirlicli,  many  years  ago,  by  a  man  nearly  connected  with 
the  family,  who  lived  to  the  age  of  100.  This  man  w^as 
a  great-grandson  of  James  Stewart,  by  a  natural  son 
John,  of  whom  many  stories  are  still  current  in  this  coun- 
try, under  his  appellation  of  John  dhu  Mhor.  This  John 
was  with  his  father  at  the  time,  and  of  course  was  a  wit- 
ness of  the  whole  transaction  ;  he  lived  to  a  considerable 
time  after  the  Revolution,  and  it  was  from  him  that  my 
father's  informant,  who  was  a  man  before  his  grandfather 
John  dhu  Mhor's  death,  received  the  information  as  above 
stated. 

"  I  have  many  apologies  to  offer  for  tresi^assing  so  long 
on  your  patience  ;  but  I  felt  a  natural  desire,  if  possible, 
to  correct  what  I  conceive  to  be  a  groundless  imputation 
on  the  memory  of  my  ancestor,  before  it  shall  come  to  be 
considered  as  a  matter  of  history.  That  he  was  a  man 
of  violent  passions  and  singular  temper,  I  do  not  pretend 
to  deny,  as  many  traditions  still  current  in  this  country 
amply  verify ;  but  that  he  was  capable  of  forming  a 
design  to  assassinate  Montrose,  the  whole  tenor  of  his 
former  conduct  and  principles  contradict.  That  he  was 
obliged  to  join  the  opposite  party,  was  merely  a  matter 
of  safety,  while  Kilpont  had  so  many  powerful  friends 
and  connexions  able  and  ready  to  avenge  his  death. 

"  I  have  only  to  add,  that  you  have  my  full  permission 
to  make  what  use  of  this  communication  you  please,  and 
either  to  reject  it  altogether,  or  allow  it  such  credit  as 
you  think  it  deserves ;  and  I  shall  be  ready  at  all  times 
to  furnish  you  with  any  farther  information  on  this  subject 
which  you  may  require,  and  which  it  may  be  in  my  power 
to  afford. 

"  Ardvoirlich,  \Uh  January,  1830." 

VOL.  XI.  15 


226 


WAVERLEX    NOVELS. 


The  publication  of  a  statement  so  particular,  and 
probably  so  correct,  is  a  debt  due  to  the  memory  of  James 
Stewart;  the  victim,  it  would  seem,  of  his  own  violent 
passions,  but  perhaps  incapable  of  an  act  of  premeditated 
treachery. 

Abbotsfoed,  1st  AugusI,  1830. 


l#^ 


# 


INTRODUCTION    TO    A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.    227 


INTRODUCTION  TO   THE    FIRST  EDITION, 
(1819.) 

Sergeant  More  M'Alpin  was,  during  his  residence 
among  us,  one  of  the  most  honoured  inhabitants  of  Gan- 
dercleugh.  No  one  thought  of  disputing  his  title  to  the 
great  leathern  chair  on  the  "  cosiest  side  of  the  chimney," 
in  the  common  room  of  the  Wallace  Arms,  on  a  Saturday 
evening.  No  less  would  our  sexton,  John  Duirward, 
have  held  it  an  unlicensed  intrusion,  to  suffer  any  one  to 
induct  himself  into  the  corner  -of  the  left-hand  pew 
nearest  to  the  pulpit,  which  the  Sergeant  regulai'ly  occu- 
pied on  Sundays.  There  he  sat,  his  blue  invalid  uniform 
brushed  with  the  most  scrupulous  accuracy.  Two  medals 
of  merit  displayed  at  his  button-hole,  as  well  as  the  empty 
sleeve  which  should  have  been  occupied  by  his  right  ai'm, 
bore  evidence  of  his  hard  and  honourable  service.  His 
weather-beaten  features,  his  grey  hair  tied  in  a  thin  queue 
in  the  military  fashion  of  former  days,  and  the  right  side 
of  his  head  a  little  turned  up,  the  better  to  catch  the 
sound  of  the  clergyman's  voice,  were  all  marks  of  his 
profession  and  infirmities.  Beside  him  sat  his  sister 
Janet,  a  little  neat  old  woman,  with  a  Highland  curch 
and  tai-tan  plaid,  watching  the  very  looks  of  her  brother, 
to  her  the  greatest  man  upon  earth,  and  actively  looking 
out  for  him,  in  his  silver-clasped  Bible,  the  texts  which 
the  minister  quoted  or  expounded. 


228  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

I  believe  it  was  the  respect  that  was  universally- 
paid  to  this  worthy  veteran  by  all  ranks  in  Gander- 
cleugh,  Avhich  induced  him  to  choose  our  village  for 
his  residence,  for  such  was  by  no  means  his  original 
intention. 

He  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  sergeant-major  of  ai'tillery, 
by  hai'd  service  in  various  quarters  of  the  world,  and 
was  reckoned  one  of  the  most  tried  and  trusty  men  of  the 
Scotch  Train.  A  ball,  which  shattered  his  arm  in  a 
Peninsular  campaign,  at  length  procured  him  an  honour- 
able discharge,  with  an  allowance  from  Chelsea,  and  a 
handsome  gratuity  from  the  patriotic  fund.  Moreover, 
Sergeant  More  M'Alpin  had  been  prudent  as  well 
as  valiant;  and,  from  prize-money  and  savings,  had 
become  master  of  a  small  sum  in  the  three  per  cent 
consols. 

He  retired  with  the  purpose  of  enjoying  this  income 
in  the  wild  Highland  glen  in  which,  when  a  boy,  he  had 
herded  black  cattle  and  goats,  ere  the  roll  of  the  drum 
had  made  him  cock  his  bonnet  an  inch  higher,  and  follow 
its  music  for  nearly  forty  years.  To  his  recollection,  this 
retired  spot  was  unpai^alleled  in  beauty  by  the  richest 
scenes  he  had  visited  in  his  wanderings.  Even  the 
Happy  Valley  of  Easselas  would  have  sunk  into  nothing 
upon  the  comparison.  He  came — he  revisited  the  loved 
scene ;  it  was  but  a  sterile  glen,  surrounded  with  rude 
crags,  and  traversed  by  a  northern  torrent.  This  was 
not  the  worst.  The  fires  had  been  quenched  upon  thirty 
hearths — of  the  cottage  of  his  fathers  he  could  but  dis- 
tinguish a  few  rude  stones — the  language  was  almost 
extinguished — the  ancient  race  from  which  he  boasted 
his  descent  had  found  a  refuge  beyond  the  Atlantic.  One 
southland  farmer,  three  grey-plaided  shepherds,  and   six 


INTRODUCTION    TO    A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.    229 

dogs,  now  tenanted  the  whole  glen,  which  in  his  youth 
had  maintained  in  content,  if  not  in  competence,  upwards 
of  two  hundred  inhabitants. 

In  the  house  of  the  new  tenant.  Sergeant  M'Alpin 
found,  howevei',  an  unexpected  source  of  pleasure,  and  a 
means  of  employing  his  social  affections.  His  sister 
Janet  had  fortunately  entertained  so  strong  a  persuasion 
that  her  brother  would  one  day  return,  that  she  had 
refused  to  accompany  her  kinsfolk  upon  their  emigration. 
Nay,  she  had  consented,  though  not  without  a  feeling  of 
degradation,  to  take  service  with  the  intruding  Lowlander, 
who,  though  a  Saxon,  she  said,  had  proved  a  kind  man  to 
her.  This  unexpected  meeting  with  his  sister  seemed  a 
cure  for  all  the  disappointments  which  it  had  been  Ser- 
geant More's  lot  to  encounter,  although  it  was  not  without 
a  reluctant  tear  that  he  heard  told,  as  a  Highland  woman 
alone  could  tell  it,  the  story  of  the  expatriation  of  his 
kinsmen. 

She  narrated  at  great  length  the  vain  offers  they  had 
made  of  advanced  rent,  the  payment  of  which  must  have 
reduced  them  to  the  extremity  of  poverty,  which  they 
were  yet  contented  to  face,  for  permission  to  live  and  die 
on  their  native  soil.  Nor  did  Janet  forget  the  portents 
which  had  announced  the  departure  of  the  CeUic  race, 
and  the  arrival  of  the  strangers.  For  two  years  previous 
to  the  emigration,  when  the  night  wind  howled  down  the 
pass  of  Balachra,  its  notes  were  distinctly  modelled  to 
the  tune  of  ''Ha  til  mi  tulidh"  ("  We  return  no  more,") 
with  which  the  emigrants  usually  bid  farewell  to  their 
native  shores.  The  uncouth  cries  of  the  Southland  shep- 
herds, and  the  barking  of  their  dogs,  were  often  heard  in 
the  midst  of  the  hills  long  before  their  actual  arrival. 
A  bard,  the  last  of  his  race,  had  commemorated  the 


230  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

expulsion  of  the  natives  of  the  glen  in  a  tune,  which 
brought  teai'S  into  the  aged  eyes  of  the  veteran,  and  of 
which  the  first  stanza  may  be  thus  rendered : 

Wo,  wo,  son  of  the  Lowlander, 
Why  wilt  thou  leave  thine  own  bonny  Border  ? 
Why  comes  thou  hither,  disturbing  the  Highlander, 
Wasting  the  glen  that  was  once  in  fair  order ! 

Wliat  added  to  Sergeant  More  M'Alpin's  distress  upon 
the  occasion  was,  that  the  chief  by  whom  this  change  had 
been  effected,  was,  by  tradition  and  common  opinion,  held 
to  represent  the  ancient  leaders  and  fathers  of  the  ex- 
pelled fugitives  ;  and  it  had  hitherto  been  one  of  Sergeant 
More's  principal  subjects  of  pride  to  prove,  by  genea- 
logical deduction,  in  what  degree  of  kindred  he  stood  to 
this  personage.  A  woful  change  was  now  wrought  in  his 
sentiments  towards  him. 

"  I  cannot  curse  him,"  he  said,  as  he  rose  and  strode 
through  the  room,  when  Janet's  narrative  w^as  finished — 
"  I  will  not  curse  him ;  he  is  the  descendant  and  repre- 
sentative of  my  fathers.  But  never  shall  mortal  man 
hear  me  name  his  name  again."  And  he  kept  his  word ; 
for,  until  his  dying  day,  no  man  heard  him  mention  his 
selfish  and  hard-hearted  chieftain. 

After  giving  a  day  to  sad  recollections,  the  hardy  spirit 
which  had  carried  him  through  so  many  dangers  manned 
the  Sergeant's  bosom  against  this  cruel  disappointment. 
"  He  would  go,"  he  said,  "  to  Canada  to  his  kinsfolk, 
where  they  had  named  a  Transatlantic  valley  after  the 
glen  of  their  fathers.  Janet,"  he  said,  "  should  kilt  her 
coats  like  a  leaguer  lady  ;  d — n  the  distance  !  it  was  a 
flea's  leap  to  the  voyages  and  marches  he  had  made  on  a 
slighter  occasion." 


INTRODUCTION   TO   A   LEGEND    OF  MONTROSE.    231 

With  this  purpose  he  left  the  Highlands,  and  came 
with  his  sister  as  far  as  Gandercleugh,  on  his  way  to 
Glasgow,  to  take  a  passage  to  Canada.  But  winter  was 
now  set  in,  and  as  he  thought  it  advisable  to  wait  for  a 
spring  passage,  when  the  St.  Lawrence  should  be  open,  he 
settled  among  us  for  the  few  months  of  his  stay  in  Britain. 
As  we  said  before,  the  respectable  old  man  met  with  defer- 
ence and  attention  from  all  ranks  of  society ;  and  when 
spring  returned,  he  was  so  satisfied  with  his  quarters, 
that  he  did  not  renew  the  purpose  of  his  voyage.  Janet 
was  afraid  of  the  sea,  and  he  himself  felt  the  infirmities 
of  age  and  hard  service  more  than  he  had  at  first 
expected.  And,  as  he  confessed  to  the  clergyman,  and 
my  worthy  principal,  Mr.  Cleishbotham,  "it  was  better 
staying  with  kend  friends,  than  going  farther  and  faring 
worse." 

He  therefore  established  himself  and  his  domicile  at 
Gandercleugh,  to  the  great  satisfaction,  as  we  have 
already  said,  of  all  its  inhabitants,  to  whom  he  became, 
in  respect  of  military  intelligence,  and  able  commen- 
taries upon  the  newspapers,  gazettes,  and  bulletins,  a 
very  oracle,  explanatory  of  all  martial  events,  past, 
present,  or  to  come. 

It  is  true,  the  Sergeant  had  his  inconsistencies.  He 
was  a  steady  Jacobite,  his  father  and  his  four  uncles  having 
been  out  in  the  forty-five ;  but  he  was  a  no  less  steady 
adherent  of  King  George,  in  whose  service  he  had  made 
his  little  fortune,  and  lost  three  brothers ;  so  that  you 
were  in  equal  danger  to  displease  him,  in  terming  Prince 
Charles  the  Pretender,  or  by  saying  anything  derogatory 
to  the  dignity  of  King  George.  Farther,  it  must  not  be 
denied,  that  when  the  day  of  receiving  his  dividends  came 
round,  the  Sergeant  was  apt  to  tarry  longer  at  the  "Wallace 


232  >  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

Arms  of  an  evening  than  was  consistent  with  strict  tem- 
perance, or  indeed  with  his  worldly  interest ;  for  upon 
these  occasions,  his  compotators  sometimes  contrived  to 
flatter  his  partialities  by  singing  Jacobite  songs  and  drink- 
ing confusion  to  Bonaparte,  and  the  health  of  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  until  the  Sergeant  was  not  only  flattered 
into  paying  the  whole  reckoning,  but  occasionally  induced 
to  lend  small  sums  to  his  interested  companions.  After 
such  sprays,  as  he  called  them,  Avere  over,  and  his  temper 
once  more  cool,  he  seldom  failed  to  thank  God,  and  the 
Duke  of  York,  who  had  made  it  much  more  difficult  for 
an  old  soldier  to  ruin  himself  by  his  folly,  than  had  been 
the  case  in  his  younger  days. 

It  was  not  on  such  occasions  that  I  made  a  part  of 
Sergeant  More  M'Alpin's  society.  But  often,  when  my 
leisure  would  permit,  I  used  to  seek  him  on  what  he 
called  his  morning  and  evening  parade,  on  which,  when 
the  weather  was  fair,  he  appeared  as  regularly  as  if  sum- 
moned by  tuck  of  drum.  His  morning  walk  was  beneath 
the  elms  in  the  churchyard  ;  "  for  death,"  he  said,  "  had 
been  his  next  door  neighbour  for  so  many  years,  that  he  had 
no  apology  for  dropping  the  acquaintance."  His  evening 
promenade  was  on  the  bleaching-green  by  the  river  side, 
where  he  was  sometimes  to  be  seen  on  an  open  bench, 
with  spectacles  on  nose,  conning  over  the  newspapers  to 
a  circle  of  village  politicians,  explaining  military  terms, 
and  aiding  the  comprehension  of  his  hearers  by  lines 
drawn  on  the  ground  with  the  end  of  his  rattan.  On 
other  occasions,  he  was  surrounded  by  a  bevy  of  school- 
boys, whom  he  sometimes  drilled  to  the  manual,  and 
sometimes,  with  less  approbation  on  the  part  of  their 
parents,  instructed  in  the  mystery  of  artificial  fireworks ; 
for  m  the  case  of  public  rejoicings,  the   Sergeant  was 


INTRODUCTION    TO    A   LEGEND    OF   MONTROSE.   233 

pyrotechnist  (as  the  Encyclopaedia  calls  it)  to  the  village 
of  Gandercleugh. 

It  was  in  his  morning  walk  that  I  most  frequently  met 
with  the  veteran.  And  I  can  hardly  yet  look  upon  the 
village  foot-path,  overshadowed  by  the  row  of  lofty  elms, 
without  thinking  I  see  his  upright  form  advancing  towards 
me  with  measured  step,  and  his  cane  advanced,  ready  to 
pay  me  the  military  salute — But  he  is  dead,  and  sleeps, 
with  his  faithful  Janet,  under  the  third  of  those  very 
trees,  counting  from  the  stile  at  the  west  corner  of  the 
churchyard. 

The  delight  which  I  had  in  Sergeant  M'Alpin's  con- 
versation, related  not  only  to  his  own  adventures,  of 
which  he  had  encountered  many  in  the  course  of  a  wan- 
dering life,  but  also  to  his  recollection  of  numerous 
Highland  traditions,  in  which  his  youth  had  been  in- 
structed by  his  pai-ents,  and  of  which  he  would  in  after 
life  have  deemed  it  a  kind  of  hex'esy  to  question  the 
authenticity.  Many  of  these  belonged  to  the  wars  of 
Montrose,  in  which  some  of  the  Sergeant's  ancestry  had, 
it  seems,  taken  a  distinguished  part.  It  has  happened, 
that,  although  these  civil  commotions  reflect  the  highest 
honour  upon  the  Highlanders,  being  indeed  the  first 
occasion  upon  which  they  showed  themselves  superior, 
or  even  equal  to  their  Low-country  neighbours  in  mili- 
tary encounters,  they  have  been  less  commemorated 
among  them  than  any  one  would  have  expected,  judging 
from  the  abundance  of  traditions  which  they  have  pre- 
served upon  less  interesting  subjects.  It  was,  therefore, 
with  great  pleasure,  that  I  extracted  from  my  military 
friend  some  curious  particulars  respecting  that  time ;  they 
are  mixed  with  that  measure  of  the  wild  and  wonderful 
which  belongs  to  the  period  and  the  narrator,  but  which  I 


234 


WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 


do  not  in  the  least  object  to  the  reader's  treating  with 
disbelief,  jirovided  he  will  be  so  good  as  give  imphcit 
credit  to  tlie  natural  events  of  the  story,  which,  like  all 
those  which  I  have  had  the  honour  to  put  under  his 
notice,  actually  rest  upon  a  basis  of  truth. 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Such  as  do  build  their  faith  upon 
The  holy  text  of  pike  and  gun, 
Decide  all  controversies  by 
Infallible  artillery, 
And  prove  their  doctrine  orthodox, 
By  apostoUc  blows  and  knocks. 

Butler. 


It  was  during  the  period  of  that  great  and  bloody 
Civil  War  which  agitated  Britain  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  that  our  tale  has  its  commencement.  Scotland 
had  as  yet  remained  free  from  the  ravages  of  intestine 
war,  although  its  inhabitants  were  much  divided  in 
political  opinions  ;  and  many  of  them,  tired  of  the  con- 
trol of  the  Estates  of  Pai-liament,  and  disapproving  of  the 
bold  measure  which  they  had  adopted,  by  sending  into 
England  a  large  army  to  the  assistance  of  the  Parliament, 
were  determined  on  their  part  to  embrace  the  earliest 
opportunity  of  declaring  for  the  King,  and  making  such  a 
diversion  as  should  at  least  compel  the  recall  of  General 
Leslie's  army  out  of  England,  if  it  did  not  recover  a 
great  part  of  Scotland  to  the  King's  allegiance.  This 
plan  was   chiefly  adopted  by  the   northern   nobility,  who 


236  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

had  resisted  with  great  obstinacy  the  adoption  of  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and  by  many  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  Higliland  clans,  who  conceived  their  interest  and 
authority  to  be  connected  with  royalty,  who  had,  besides, 
a  decided  aversion  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  religion^ 
and  who,  finally,  were  in  that  half  savage  state  of  society, 
in  which  war  is  always  more  welcome  than  peace. 

Great  commotions  were  generally  expected  to  arise 
from  these  concurrent  causes  ;  and  the  trade  of  incursion 
and  depredation,  which  the  Scottish  Highlanders  at  all 
times  exercised  upon  the  Lowlands,  began  to  assume  a 
more  steady,  avowed,  and  systematic  form,  as  part  of  a 
general  military  system. 

Those  at  the  head  of  affairs  were  not  insensible  to  the 
peril  of  the  moment,  and  anxiously  made  preparations  to 
meet  and  to  repel  it.  They  considered,  however,  with 
satisfaction,  that  no  leader  or  name  of  consequence  had 
as  yet  appeared  to  assemble  an  army  of  royalists,  or  even 
to  direct  the  efforts  of  those  desultory  bands,  whom  love 
of  plunder,  perhaps,  as  much  as  political  principle,  had 
hurried  into  measures  of  hostility.  It  was  generally 
hoped  that  the  quartering  a  sufficient  number  of  troops  in 
the  Lowlands  adjacent  to  the  Highland  line,  would  have 
the  effect  of  restraining  the  mountain  chieftains ;  while 
the  power  of  various  barons  in  the  north,  who  had 
espoused  the  Covenant,  as,  for  example,  the  Earl  Mare- 
schal,  the  great  famihes  of  Forbes,  Leslie,  and  Irvine, 
the  Grants,  and  other  Presbyterian  clans,  might  counter- 
balance and  bridle  not  only  the  strength  of  the  Ogilvies 
and  other  cavaliers  of  Angus  and  Kincardine,  but  even 
the  potent  family  of  the  Gordons,  whose  extensive  author- 
ity was  only  equalled  by  their  extreme  dislike  to  the 
Presbyterian  model. 


I 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTKOSE.  237 

In  the  West  Highlands  the  ruhng  party  numbered 
many  enemies ;  but  the  power  of  these  disaffected  clans 
was  supposed  to  be  broken,  and  the  spirit  of  their  chief- 
tains intimidated,  by  the  predominating  influence  of  the 
Marquis  of  Argyle,  upon  whom  the  confidence  of  the 
Convention  of  Estates  was  reposed  with  the  utmost 
security ;  and  whose  power  in  the  Highlands,  already 
exorbitant,  had  been  still  farther  inci-eased  by  concessions 
extorted  from  the  King  at  the  last  pacification.  It  was 
indeed  well  known  that  Argyle  was  a  man  rather  of 
political  enterprise  than  personal  courage,  and  better 
calculated  to  manage  an  intrigue  of  state,  than  to  control 
the  tribes  of  hostile  mountaineers ;  yet  the  numbers  of 
his  clan,  and  the  spirit  of  the  gallant  gentlemen  by  whom 
it  was  led,  might,  it  was  supposed,  atone  for  the  personal 
deficiencies  of  their  chief;  and  as  the  Campbells  had 
already  severely  humbled  several  of  the  neighbouring 
tribes,  it  was  supposed  these  Avould  not  readily  again 
provoke  an  encounter  with  a  body  so  powerful. 

Thus  having  at  their  command  the  whole  west  and 
south  of  Scotland,  indisputably  the  richest  part  of  the 
kingdom, — Fifeshire  being  in  a  peculiar  manner  their 
own,  and  possessing  many  and  powerful  friends  even 
north  of  the  Forth  and  Tay, — the  Scottish  Convention  of 
Estates  saw  no  danger  sufficient  to  induce  them  to  alter 
the  line  of  policy  they  had  adopted,  or  to  recall  from  the 
assistance  of  their  brethren  of  the  English  Parliament 
that  auxiliary  army  of  twenty  thousand  men,  by  means 
of  which  accession  of  strength,  the  King's  party  had  been 
reduced  to  the  defensive,  when  in  full  career  of  triumph 
and  success. 

The  causes  which  moved  the  Convention  of  Estates  at 
this  time  to  take  such  an  immediate  and  active  interest 


238  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

in  the  ci\'il  war  of  England,  arc  detailed  by  our  historians, 
but  may  be  here  shortly  recapitulated.  They  had  indeed 
no  new  injury  or  aggression  to  complain  of  at  the  hand 
of  the  King,  and  the  peace  which  had  been  made  between 
Charles  and  his  subjects  of  Scotland  had  been  carefully 
observed ;  but  the  Scottish  rulers  were  well  aware  that 
this  peace  had  been  extorted  from  the  King,  as  well  by 
the  influence  of  the  parliamentary  party  in  England,  as 
by  the  terror  of  their  own  arms.  It  is  true.  King  Charles 
had  since  then  visited  the  capital  of  his  ancient  king- 
dom, had  assented  to  the  new  organization  of  the  church, 
and  had  distributed  honours  and  rewards  among  the 
leaders  of  the  party  which  had  shewn  themselves  most 
hostile  to  his  interests  ;  but  it  was  suspected  that  distinc- 
tions so  unwillingly  conferred  would  be  resumed  as  soon 
as  opportunity  offered.  The  low  state  of  the  English 
Parliament  was  seen  in  Scotland  with  deep  apprehension  ; 
and  it  was  concluded,  that  should  Charles  triumph  by 
force  of  arms  against  his  insurgent  subjects  of  England, 
he  would  not  be  long  in  exacting  from  the  Scots  the 
vengeance  which  he  might  suppose  due  to  those  who  had 
set  the  example  of  taking  up  arms  against  him.  Such 
was  the  policy  of  the  measure  which  dictated  the  sending 
the  auxiliary  army  into  England  ;  and  it  was  avowed  in 
a  manifesto  explanatory  of  their  reasons  for  giving  this 
timely  and  important  aid  to  the  English  Parliament. 
The  English  Parliament,  they  said,  had  been  ali'eady 
friendly  to  them,  and  might  be  again ;  whereas  the  King, 
although  he  had  so  lately  established  religion  among 
them  according  to  their  desires,  had  given  them  no 
ground  to  confide  in  his  royal  declaration,  seeing  they 
had  found  his  promises  and  actions  inconsistent  with  each 
other.     "  Our  conscience,"    they  concluded,    "  and  God, 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE,  239 

who  is  greater  than  our  conscience,  beareth  us  record, 
that  we  aim  altogether  at  the  glory  of  God,  peace  of 
both  nations,  and  honour  of  the  King,  in  suppressing  and 
punishing,  in  a  legal  way,  those  who  are  the  troublers 
of  Israel,  the  firebrands  of  hell,  the  Korahs,  the  Balaams, 
the  Doegs,  the  Rabshakehs,  the  Hamans,  the  Tobiahs, 
the  Sanballats  of  our  time  ;  which  done,  we  are  satisfied. 
Neither  have  we  begun  to  use  a  military  expedition  to 
England  as  a  mean  for  compassing  those  our  pious  ends, 
until  all  other  means  Avhicli  we  could  think  upon  have 
failed  us  :  and  this  alone  is  left  to  us,  ultinium  et  unicum. 
remedium,  the  last  and  only  remedy." 

Leaving  it  to  casuists  to  determine  whether  one  con- 
tracting party  is  justified  in  breaking  a  solemn  treaty, 
upon  the  suspicion  that,  in  certain  future  contingencies,  it 
might  be  infringed  b5'  the  other,  we  shall  proceed  to 
mention  two  other  circumstances  that  had  at  least  equal 
influence  with  the  Scottish  rulers  and  nation,  with  any 
doubts  which  they  entertained  of  the  King's  good  faith. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  nature  and  condition  of  their 
army  ;  headed  by  a  poor  and  discontented  nobility,  under 
whom  it  was  officered  chiefly  by  Scottish  soldiers  of  for- 
tune, who  had  served  in  the  German  wars  until  they  had 
lost  almost  all  distinction  of  political  principle,  and  even 
of  country,  in  the  adoption  of  the  mercenary  faith,  that  a 
soldier's  principal  duty  was  fidelity  to  the  state  or  sover- 
eign from  which  he  received  his  pay,  without  respect 
either  to  the  justice  of  the  quarrel,  or  to  their  own  con- 
nexion with  either  of  the  contending  parties.  To  men 
of  this  stamp,  Grotius  applies  the  severe  character — 
Nullum  vitce  genus  est  improhius,  quam  eorum,  qui  sine 
causce  respectu  mercede  conducti,  militant.  To  these 
mercenary  soldiers,  as  Avell  as  to  the  needy  gentry  with 


240  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

whom  they  were  mixed  in  command,  and  who  easily 
imbibed  the  same  opinions,  the  success  of  the  late  short 
invasion  of  England  in  1641  was  a  sufficient  reason  for 
renewing  so  profitable  an  experiment.  The  good  pay 
and  free  quarters  of  England  had  made  a  feeling  impres- 
sion upon  the  recollection  of  these  military  adventurers, 
and  the  prospect  of  again  levying  eight  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  a-day,  came  in  place  of  all  arguments,  whether 
of  state  or  of  morality. 

Another  cause  inflamed  the  minds  of  the  nation  at 
large,  no  less  than  the  tempting  prospect  of  the  wealth 
of  England  animated  the  soldiery.  So  much  had  been 
written  and  said  on  either  side  concerning  the  form  of 
church  government,  that  it  had  become  a  matter  of  infi- 
nitely more  consequence  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude  than 
the  doctrines  of  that  gospel  which  both  churches  had  em- 
braced. The  Prelatists  and  Presbyterians  of  the  more 
violent  kind  became  as  illiberal  as  the  Papists,  and  would 
scarcely  allow  the  possibility  of  salvation  beyond  the  pale 
of  their  respective  churches.  It  was  in  vain  remarked  to 
these  zealots,  that  had  the  Author  of  our  holy  religion 
considered  any  peculiar  form  of  church  government  as 
essential  to  salvation,  it  would  have  been  revealed  with 
the  same  precision  as  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensa- 
tion. Both  parties  continued  as  violent  as  if  they  could 
have  pleaded  the  distinct  commands  of  Heaven  to  justify 
their  intolerance.  Laud,  in  the  days  of  his  domination, 
had  fired  the  train,  by  attempting  to  impose  upon  the 
Scottish  people  church  ceremonies  foreign  to  their  habits 
and  opinions.  The  success  with  which  this  had  been 
resisted,  and  the  Presbyterian  model  substituted  in  its 
place,  had  endeai'ed  the  latter  to  the  nation,  as  the  cause 
in  which  they  had  triumphed.     The  Solemn  League  and 


A   LEGEND    OF   MONTROSE.  241 

Covenant,  adopted  with  such  zeal  by  the  greater  part  of 
the  kingdom,  and  by  them  forced,  at  the  sword's  point, 
upon  the  others,  bore  in  its  bosom,  as  its  principal  object, 
the  establishing  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  and  the  putting  down  all  error  and 
heresy ;  and  having  attained  for  their  own  country  an 
establishment  of  this  golden  candlestick,  the  Scots  became 
liberally  and  fraternally  anxious  to  erect  the  same  in 
England.  This  they  conceived  might  be  easily  attained 
by  lending  to  the  Parliament  the  effectual  assistance  of 
the  Scottish  forces.  The  Presbyterians,  a  numerous  and 
powerful  party  in  the  English  Parliament,  had  hitherto 
taken  the  lead  in  opposition  to  the  King ;  while  the  In- 
dependents and  other  sectaries,  who  afterwards,  under 
Cromwell,  resumed  the  power  of  the  sword,  and  overset 
the  Presbyterian  model  both  in  Scotland  and  England, 
were  as  yet  contented  to  lurk  under  the  shelter  of  the 
wealthier  and  more  powerful  party.  The  prospect  of 
bringing  to  a  uniformity  the  kingdoms  of  England  and 
Scotland  in  discipline  and  worship,  seemed  therefore  as 
fair  as  it  was  desirable. 

The  celebrated  Sir  Henry  Vane,  one  of  the  commis- 
sioner? Avho  negotiated  the  alliance  betwixt  England  and 
Scotland,  saw  the  influence  which  this  bait  had  upon 
the  spirits  of  those  with  whom  he  dealt ;  and  although 
himself  a  violent  Independent,  he  contrived  at  once  to 
gratify  and  to  elude  the  eager  desires  of  the  Presbyte- 
rians, by  qualifying  the  obligation  to  reform  the  Church 
of  England,  as  a  change  to  be  executed  "  according  to 
the  word  of  God,  and  the  best  reformed  churches."  De- 
ceived by  their  own  eagerness,  themselves  entertaining 
no  doubts  on  the  Jus  Divinum  of  their  own  ecclesiastical 
establishments,  and  not  holding  it  possible  such  doubts 

VOL.  XI.  16 


242  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

could  be  adopted  by  others,  the  Convention  of  Estates 
and  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  conceived,  that  such  expressions 
necessarily  inferred  the  establishment  of  Presbytery  ;  nor 
were  they  undeceived,  until,  when  their  help  was  no 
longer  needful,  the  sectaries  gave  them  to  understand, 
that  the  phrase  might  be  as  well  applied  to  Independency, 
or  any  other  mode  of  worship,  which  those  who  were  at 
the  head  of  affairs  at  the  time  might  consider  as  agreeable 
"  to  the  word  of  God,  and  the  practice  of  the  reformed 
churches."  Neither  were  the  out-witted  Scottish  less 
astonished  to  find,  that  the  designs  of  the  English  secta- 
ries struck  against  the  monarchical  constitution  of  Britain, 
it  having  been  their  intention  to  reduce  the  power  of  the 
King,  but  by  no  means  to  abrogate  the  office.  They 
fared,  however,  in  this  respect,  like  rash  physicians,  who 
commence  by  over-physicking  a  patient,  until  he  is  re- 
duced to  a  state  of  weakness,  from  which  cordials  are 
afterwards  unable  to  recover  him. 

But  these  events  were  still  in  the  womb  of  futurity. 
As  yet  the  Scottish  Parliament  held  their  engagement 
with  England  consistent  with  justice,  prudence,  and  piety, 
and  their  military  undertaking  seemed  to  succeed  to  their 
very  wish.  The  junction  of  the  Scottish  army  with  those 
of  Faii'fax  and  Manchester,  enabled  the  Parliamentary 
forces  to  besiege  York,  and  to  fight  the  desperate  action 
of  Long-Marston  Moor,  in  which,  Prince  Rupert  and  the 
Marquis  of  Newcastle  were  defeated.  The  Scottish 
auxiliaries,  indeed,  had  less  of  the  gloiy  of  this  victory 
than  their  countrymen  could  desire.  David  Leslie,  with 
their  cavalry,  fought  bravely,  and  to  them,  as  well  as  to 
Cromwell's  brigade  of  Independents,  the  honour  of  the 
day  belonged ;  but  the  old  Earl  of  Leven,  the  covenant- 
ing general,  was  driven  out  of  the  field  by  the  impetuous 


A    LEGEND    OP    MONTROSE. 


243 


charge  of  Prince  Rupert,  and  was  thirty  miles  distant,  in 
lull  flight  towards  Scotland,  when  he  was  overtaken  by 
the  news  that  his  party  had  gained  a  complete  victory. 

The  absence  of  these  auxiliary  troops,  upon  this 
crusade  for  the  establishment  of  Presbyterianism  in 
England,  had  considerably  diminished  the  power  of  the 
Convention  of  Estates  in  Scotland,  and  had  given  rise  to 
those  agitations  among  the  anti-covenanters,  which  w^e 
have  noticed  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter. 


244  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  11. 

His  motlier  could  for  liim  as  cradle  set 

Her  husband's  rusty  iron  corselet; 

Whose  jangling  sound  could  hush  her  babe  to  rest, 

That  never  plaiii'd  of  his  uneasy  nest ; 

Then  did  he  dream  of  dreary  wars  at  hand, 

And  woke,  and  fought,  and  won,  ere  he  could  stand. 

Hall's  Satires. 

It  was  towards  tlie  close  of  a  summer's  evening,  during 
the  anxious  period  which  we  have  commemorated,  that  a 
young  gentleman  of  quality,  well  mounted  and  armed, 
and  accompanied  by  two  servants,  one  of  whom  led  a 
sumpter-horse,  rode  slowly  up  one  of  those  steep  passes 
by  which  the  Highlands  are  accessible  from  the  Lowlands 
of  Perthshire.*  Their  course  had  lain  for  some  time  along 
the  banks  of  a  lake,  whose  deep  waters  reflected  the 
crimson  beams  of  the  western  sun.  The  broken  path 
which  they  pursued,  with  some  difficulty,  was  in  some 
places  shaded  by  ancient  birches  and  oak  trees,  and  in 
others  overhung  by  fragments  of  huge  rock.  Elsewhere, 
the  hill,  which  formed  the  northern  side  of  this  beautiful 
sheet  of  water,  arose  in  steep,  but  less  precipitous  acclivity, 
and  was  arrayed  in  heath  of  the  darkest  purple.  In  the 
present  times,  a  scene  so  romantic  would  have  been  judged 
to  possess  the  highest  cliarms  for  the  traveller  ;  but  those 

*  The  beautiful  pass  of  Leny,  near  Callender,  in  Monteith,  would, 
in  some  respects,  answer  the  description. 


A   LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.  245 

who  journey  in  days  of  doubt  and  dread  pay  little  atten- 
tion to  picturesque  scenery. 

The  master  kept,  as-  often  as  the  wood  permitted, 
abreast  of  one  or  both  of  his  domestics,  and  seemed 
earnestly  to  converse  with  them,  probably  because  the 
distinctions  of  rank  are  readily  set  aside  among  those  who 
are  made  to  be  sharers  of  common  danger.  The  disposi- 
tions of  the  leading  men  who  inhabited  this  wild  country, 
and  the  probability  of  their  taking  part  in  the  political 
convulsions  that  were  soon  expected,  were  the  subjects  of 
their  conversation. 

They  had  not  advanced  above  half  way  up  the  lake, 
and  the  young  gentleman  was  pointing  to  his  attendants 
the  spot  where  their  intended  road  turned  northwards, 
and,  leaving  the  verge  of  the  Loch,  ascended  a  ravine  to 
the  right  hand,  when  they  discovered  a  single  horseman 
coming  down  the  shore  as  if  to  meet  them.  The  gleam 
of  the  sunbeams  upon  his  head-piece  and  corselet  shewed 
that  he  was  in  armour,  and  the  pui-pose  of  the  other 
travellers  required  that  he  should  not  pass  unquestioned. 
"  We  must  know  who  he  is,"  said  the  young  gentleman, 
"and  whither  he  is  going."  And  putting  spurs  to  his 
horse,  he  rode  forward  as  fast  as  the  rugged  state  of  the 
road  would  permit,  followed  by  his  two  attendants,  until 
he  reached  the  point  where  the  pass  along  the  side  of  the 
lake  was  intersected  by  that  which  descended  from  the 
ravine,  securing  ihus  against  the  possibility  of  the  stranger 
eluding  them,  by  turning  into  the  latter  road  before  they 
came  up  with  him. 

The  single  horseman  had  mended  his  pace,  when  he 
first  observed  the  three  riders  advance  rapidly  towards 
him ;  but  when  he  saw  them  halt  and  form  a  front,  which 
completely  occupied  the  path,  he  checked  his  horse,  and 


246  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

advanced  with  great  delibei-ation ;  so  that  each  party  had 
an  opportunity  to  take  a  full  survey  of  the  other.  The 
solitary  stranger  was  mounted  upon  an  able  horse,  fit  for 
military  service,  and  for  the  great  weight  Avhicli  he  had 
to  carry,  and  his  rider  occupied  his  demipique,  or  war- 
saddle,  with  an  air  that  shewed  it  was  his  familiar  seat. 
He  had  a  bright  burnished  head-piece,  with  a  plume  of 
feathers,  together  with  a  cuirass,  thick  enough  to  resist  a 
musket-ball,  and  a  back-piece  of  lighter  materials.  These 
defensive  arms  he  wore  over  a  buff  jerkin,  along  with  a 
pair  of  gauntlets,  or  steel  gloves,  the  tops  of  which 
reached  up  to  his  elbow,  and  Avhich,  like  the  rest  of  his 
armour,  were  of  bright  steel.  At  the  front  of  his  military 
saddle  hung  a  case  of  pistols,  fin-  beyond  the  ordinary 
size,  nearly  two  feet  in  length,  and  carrying  bullets  of 
twenty  to  the  pound.  A  buff  belt,  with  a  broad  silver 
buckle,  sustained  on  one  side  a  long  straight  double-edged 
broadsword,  with  a  strong  guard,  and  a  blade  calculated 
either  to  strike  or  push.  On  the  right  side  hung  a  dagger 
of  about  eighteen  inches  in  length ;  a  shouldex'belt  sus- 
tained at  his  back  a  musketoon  or  blunderbuss,  and  was 
crossed  by  a  bandelier  containing  his  charges  of  ammuni- 
tion. Thigh-pieces  of  steel,  then  termed  taslets,  met  the 
tops  of  his  huge  jack-boots,  and  completed  the  equipage 
of  a  well-armed  trooper  of  the  period. 

The  appearance  of  the  horseman  himself  corresponded 
well  with  his  military  equipage,  to  which  he  had  the  air 
of  having  been  long  inured.  He  was  above  the  middle 
size,  and  of  strength  sufficient  to  bear  with  ease  the 
weight  of  his  weapons,  offensive  and  defensive.  His  age 
might  be  forty  and  upwards,  and  his  countenance  was 
that  of  a  resolute  weather-beaten  veteran,  who  had  seen 
many  fields,  and  brought  away  in  token  more  than  one 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.  247 

scar.  At  the  distance  of  about  thirty  yards  he  halted  and 
stood  fast,  raised  himself  on  his  stirrups,  as  if  to  recon- 
noitre and  ascertain  the  purpose  of  the  opposite  party, 
and  brought  his  musketoon  under  his  right  arm,  ready  for 
use,  if  occasion  should  require  it.  In  every  thing  but 
numbers,  he  had  the  advantage  of  those  who  seemed  in- 
clined to  interrupt  his  passage. 

The  leader  of  the  party  was,  indeed,  well  mounted  and 
clad  in  a  buff'  coat,  richly  embroidered,  the  half-military 
dress  of  the  period ;  but  liis  domestics  had  only  coarse 
jackets  of  thick  felt,  which  could  scarce  be  expected  to 
turn  the  edge  of  a  sword,  if  wielded  by  a  strong  man ; 
and  none  of  them  had  any  weapons,  save  swords  and 
pistols,  without  which  gentlemen,  or  tlicir  attendants, 
during  those  disturbed  times,  seldom  stirred  abroad. 

When  they  had  stood  at  gaze  ibr  about  a  minute,  the 
younger  gentleman  gave  the  challenge  which  was  then 
common  in  the  mouth  of  all  strangers  who  met  in  such 
circumstances — "  For  whom  are  you  ?" 

"  Tell  me  first,"  answered  the  soldier,  "  for  whom  are 
you  ? — the  strongest  party  should  speak  first." 

"  We  are  for  God  and  King  Charles,"  answered  the 
first  speaker. — "  Now  tell  your  faction,  you  know  ours." 

"  I  am  for  God  and  my  standard,"  answered  the  single 
horseman. 

"  And  for  which  standard  ?  "  replied  the  chief  of  the 
other  party — ''  Cavalier  or  Roundhead,  King  or  Conven- 
tion ?  " 

"  By  my  troth,  sir,"  answered  the  soldier,  I  would  be 
loath  to  reply  to  you  with  an  untruth,  as  a  thing  unbe- 
coming a  cavalier  of  fortune  and  a  soldier.  But  to 
answer  your  query  with  beseeming  veracity,  it  is  neces- 
sary I  should  myself  have  resolved  to  whilk  of  the  pres- 


248  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

ent  divisions  of  the  kingdom  I  shall  ultimately  adhere, 
being  a  matter  whereon  mj  mind  is  not  as  yet  preceesely 
ascertained." 

"  I  should  have  thought,"  ansvrered  the  gentleman, 
"  that,  when  loyalty  and  religion  are  at  stake,  no  gentle- 
man or  man  of  honour  could  be  long  in  choosing  his 
party." 

"  Truly,  sir,"  replied  the  trooper,  "  if  ye  speak  this  in 
the  way  of  vituperation,  as  meaning  to  impugn  my 
honour  or  genteelity,  I  would  blithely  put  the  same  to 
issue,  ventui'ing  in  that  quarrel  with  my  single  person 
against  you  three.  But  if  you  speak  it  in  the  way  of 
logical  ratiocination,  whilk  I  have  studied  in  my  youth  at 
the  Mareschal  College  of  Aberdeen,  I  am  i-eady  to  prove 
to  ye  logice,  that  my  resolution  to  defer,  for  a  certain 
season,  the  taking  upon  me  either  of  these  quarrels,  not 
only  becometh  me  as  a  gentleman  and  a  man  of  honour, 
but  also  as  a  person  of  sense  and  prudence,  one  imbued 
with  humane  letters  in  his  early  youth,  and  who,  from 
thenceforward,  has  followed  the  wars  under  the  banner 
of  the  invincible  Gustavus,  the  Lion  of  the  North,  and 
under  many  other  heroic  leaders,  both  Lutheran  and  Cal- 
vinist,  Papist  and  Arminian." 

After  exchanging  a  word  or  two  with  his  domestics, 
the  younger  gentleman  replied,  "  I  should  be  glad,  sir,  to 
have  some  conversation  with  you  upon  so  interesting  a 
question,  and  should  be  proud  if  I  can  determine  you  in 
favour  of  the  cause  I  have  myself  espoused.  I  ride  this 
evening  to  a  friend's  house,  not  three  miles  distant, 
whither,  if  you  choose  to  accompany  me,  you  shall  have 
good  quarters  for  the  night,  and  free  permission  to  take 
your  own  road  in  the  morning,  if  you  then  feel  no  inclina- 
tion to  join  with  us." 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.  249 

"  Whose  word  am  I  to  take  for  this  ?  "  answered  the 
cautious  soldier — "  a  man  must  know  his  guarantee,  or 
he  may  fall  into  an  ambuscade." 

"  1  am  called,"  answered  the  young  stranger,  "  the  Earl 
of  Meuteith,  and,  I  trust,  you  will  receive  my  honour  as 
a  sufficient  security." 

"  A  worthy  nobleman,"  answered  the  soldier,  "  whose 
parole  is  not  to  be  doubted."  With  one  motion  he 
replaced  his  musketoon  at  his  back,  and  with  another 
made  his  military  salute  to  the  young  nobleman,  and  con- 
tinuing to  talk  as  he  rode  forward  to  join  him — "  And,  I 
trust,"  said  he,  "  my  own  assurance,  that  I  will  be  hon 
camarado  to  your  lordship  in  peace  or  in  peril,  during 
the  time  we  shall  alnde  together,  will  not  be  altogether 
vilipended  in  these  doubtful  times,  when,  as  they  say,  a 
man's  head  is  safer  in  a  steel-cap  than  in  a  marble 
palace." 

"  I  assure  you,  sir,"  said  Lord  Menteith,  "  that  to  judge 
from  your  appearance,  I  most  highly  value  the  advantage 
of  your  escort ;  but  I  trust  we  shall  have  no  occasion  for 
any  exercise  of  valour,,  as  I  expect  to  conduct  you  to  good 
and  friendly  quarters." 

"  Good  quarters,  my  lord,"  replied  the  soldier,  "  are 
always  acceptable,  and  are  only  to  be  postponed  to  good  pay 
or  good  booty, — not  to  mention  the  honour  of  a  cavalier, 
or  the  needful  points  of  commanded  duty.  And  truly,  my 
lord,  your  noble  proffer  is  not  the  less  welcome,  in  that  I 
knew  not  pi-eceesely  this  night  where  I  and  my  poor 
companion  "  (patting  his  horse)  "  were  to  find  lodgments." 

"  May  I  be  permitted  to  ask,  then,"  said  Lord  Men- 
teith, "  to  whom  I  have  the  good  fortune  to  stand  quarter- 
master ?  " 

"  Truly,  my  lord,"  said  the  trooper,  "  my  name  is  Dal- 


250  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

getty — Dugald  Dalgetty,  Ritt-master  Dugald  Dalgetty 
of  Drumthwacket,  at  your  honourable  service  to  com- 
mand. It  is  a  name  you  may  have  seen  in  Gallo  Bel- 
gicus,  the  Swedish  Intelligencer,  or  if  you  read  High 
Dutch,  in  the  Fliegenden  Mercoeur  of  Leipsic.  My 
father,  my  lord,  having  by  unthrifty  courses  reduced  a 
fair  patrimony  to  a  nonentity.  I  had  no  better  shift,  when 
I  was  eighteen  years  auld,  than  to  carry  the  learning 
whilk  I  had  acquired  at  the  Mareschal  College  of  Aber- 
deen, my  gentle  bluid  and  designation  of  Drumthwacket, 
together  with  a  pair  of  stalwarth  arms,  and  legs  conform, 
to  the  German  wars,  there  to  push  my  way  as  a  cavalier 
of  fortune.  My  lord,  my  legs  and  arms  stood  me  in 
more  stead  than  either  my  gentle  kin  or  my  book-lear, 
and  I  found  myself  trailing  a  pike  as  a  private  gentleman 
under  old  Sir  Ludovick  Leslie,  where  I  learned  the  rules  of 
service  so  tightly,  that  I  will  not  forget  them  in  a  hurry. 
Sir,  I  have  been  made  to  stand  guard  eight  hours,  being 
from  twelve  at  noon  to  eight  o'clock  of  the  night,  at  the 
palace,  armed  with  back  and  breast,  head-piece  and  brace- 
lets, being  iron  to  the  teeth,  in  a  bitter  frost,  and  the  ice 
was  as  hard  as  ever  was  flint ;  and  all  for  stopping  an 
instant  to  speak  to  my  landlady,  when  I  should  have  gone 
to  roll-call." 

"  And,  doubtless,  sir,"  replied  Lord  Menteith,  "  you 
have  gone  through  some  hot  service,  as  well  as  this  same 
cold  duty  you  talk  of?  " 

"  Surely,  my  lord,  it  doth  not  become  me  to  speak ;  but 
he  that  hath  seen  the  fields  of  Leipsic  and  of  Lutzen, 
may  be  said  to  have  seen  pitched  battles.  And  one  who 
hath  witnessed  the  intaking  of  Frankfort,  and  Spanheim, 
and  Nuremberg,  and  so  forth,  should  know  somewhat 
about  leaguers,  storms,  onslaughts,  and  outfalls." 


A    LEGKND    OF    MONTROSE.  251 

"  But  your  merit,  sir,  and  experience,  were  doubtless 
followed  by  promotion  ?  " 

"  It  came  slow,  my  lord,  dooms  slow,"  replied  Dalgetty ; 
"  but  as  my  Scottish  countrymen,  the  fathers  of  the  war, 
and  the  raisers  of  those  valorous  Scottish  regiments  that 
were  the  dread  of  Germany,  began  to  fall  pretty  thick, 
what  with  [)estilence  and  what  with  the  sword,  why  we, 
their  children,  succeeded  to  their  inheritance.  Sir,  I  was 
six  years  first  private  gentleman  of  the  company,  and 
three  years  lance  speisade  ;  disdaining  to  receive  a 
halberd,  as  unbecoming  my  birth.  Wherefore  I  was 
ultimately  promoted  to  be  a  fahn-dragger,  as  the  High 
Dutch  call  it,  (which  signifies  an  ancient,)  in  the  King's 
Leif  Regiment  of  Black  Horse,  and  thereafter  I  arose 
to  be  lieutenant  and  ritt-master,  under  that  invincible 
monarch,  the  bulwark  of  the  Protestant  faith,  the  Lion 
of  the  North,  the  terror  of  Austria,  Gustavus  the  Vic- 
torious." 

"  And  yet,  if  I  understand  you,  Captain  Dalgetty — I 
think  that  rank  corresponds  with  your  foreign  title  of 
ritt-master " 

"  The  same  grade  preceesely,"  answered  Dalgetty ; 
"  ritt-master  signifying  literally  file-leader." 

"  I  was  observing,"  continued  Lord  Menteith,  "  that, 
if  I  understood  you  right,  you  had  left  the  service  of  this 
great  Prince." 

"  It  was  after  his  death — it  was  after  his  death,  sir," 
said  Dalgetty,  "  when  I  was  in  no  shape  bound  to  con- 
tinue mine  adherence.  There  are  things,  my  lord,  in 
that  service,  that  cannot  but  go  against  the  stomach  of 
any  cavalier  of  honour.  In  especial,  albeit  the  pay  be 
none  of  the  most  superabundant,  being  only  about  sixty 
dollars  a  month  to  a  ritt-master,  yet  the  invincible  Gus- 


252  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

tavus  never  paid  above  one-third  of  that  sum,  whilk  was 
distributed  monthly  by  way  of  loan ;  although,  when 
justly  considered,  it  was,  in  fact,  a  borrowing  by  that 
great  monarch  of  the  additional  two-thirds  which  were 
due  to  the  soldier.  And  I  have  seen  whole  regiments  of 
Dutch  and  Holsteiners  mutiny  on  the  field  of  battle,  like 
base  scullions,  crying  out  '  Gelt,  gelt,'  signifying  their 
desire  of  pay,  instead  of  falling  to  blows  like  our  noble 
Scottish  blades,  who  ever  disdained,  my  lord,  postponing 
of  honour  to  filthy  lucre." 

"  But  were  not  these  arrears,"  said  Lord  Menteith, 
"  paid  to  the  soldieiy  at  some  stated  period  ?  " 

"  My  lord,"  said  Dalgetty,  "  I  take  it  on  my  conscience, 
that  at  no  period,  and  by  no  possible  process,  could  one 
creutzer  of  them  ever  be  recovered.  I  myself  never  saw 
twenty  dollars  of  my  own  all  the  time  I  served  the  in- 
vincible Gustavus,  unless  it  was  from  the  chance  of  a 
storm  or  victory,  or  the  fetching  in  some  town  or  doorp, 
when  a  cavalier  of  fortune,  who  knows  the  usage  of  wars, 
seldom  faileth  to  make  some  small  profit." 

"  I  begin  rather  to  wonder,  sir,"  said  Lord  Menteith, 
"  that  you  should  have  continued  so  long  in  the  Swedish 
service,  than  that  you  should  have  ultimately  withdrawn 
from  it." 

"  Neither  I  should,"  answered  the  Ritt-master ;  "  but 
that  great  leader  captain,  and  king,  the  Lion  of  the  North, 
and  the  bulwark  of  the  Protestant  faith,  had  a  way  of 
winning  battles,  taking  towns,  overrunning  countries,  and 
levying  contributions,  whilk  made  his  service  irresistibly 
delectable  to  all  true-bred  cavaliers  who  follow  the  noble 
profession  of  arms.  Simple  as  I  ride  here,  my  lord,  I 
have  myself  commanded  the  whole  stift  of  Dunklespiel 
on  the  Lower  Rhine,  occupying  the  Palsgrave's  palace, 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.  253 

consuming  his  choice  wines  with  my  comrades,  calhng  in 
contributions,  requisitions,  and  caduacs,  and  not  failing  to 
lick  my  fingers,  as  became  a  good  cook.  But  truly  all 
this  glory  hastened  to  decay,  after  our  gi-eat  master  had 
been  shot  with  three  bullets  on  the  field  of  Lutzen ; 
wherefore,  finding  that  Fortune  had  changed  sides,  that 
the  borrowings  and  lendings  went  on  as  before  out  of  our 
pay,  while  the  caduacs  and  casualties  were  all  cut  off,  I 
e'en  gave  up  my  commission,  and  took  service  with  Wal- 
lenstein,  in  Walter  Butler's  Irish  Regiment." 

"  And  may  I  beg  to  know  of  you,"  said  Lord  Men- 
teith,  apparently  interested  in  the  adventures  of  this 
soldier  of  fortune,  "  how  you  liked  this  change  of  mas- 
ters ?  " 

"  Indifferent  well,"  said  the  Captain — "  very  indifferent 
well.  I  cannot  say  that  the  Emperor  paid  much  better 
than  the  great  Gustavus.  For  hard  knocks,  we  had 
plenty  of  them.  I  was  often  obliged  to  run  my  head 
against  my  old  acquaintances,  the  Swedish  feathers,  whilk 
your  honour  must  conceive  to  be  double-pointed  stakes, 
shod  with  iron  at  each  end,  and  planted  before  the  squad 
of  pikes  to  prevent  an  onfall  of  the  cavalry.  The  whilk 
Swedish  feathers,  although  they  look  gay  to  the  eye,  re- 
sembling the  shrubs  or  lesser  trees  of  ane  forest,  as  the 
puissant  pikes,  arranged  in  battalia  behind  them,  coi're- 
spond  to  the  tall  pines  thereof,  yet,  nevertheless,  are  not 
altogether  so  soft  to  encounter  as  the  plumage  of  a  goose. 
Howbeit,  in  despite  of  heavy  blows  and  hght  pay,  a  cav- 
alier of  fortune  may  thrive  indifferently  well  in  the  Impe- 
rial service,  in  respect  his  private  casualties  are  nothing 
so  closely  looked  to  as  by  the  Swede ;  and  so  that  an 
officer  did  his  duty  on  the  field,  neither  Wallenstein  nor 
Pappenheim,  nor  old  Tilly  before  them,  would  likely  lis- 


254  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

ten  to  the  objurgations  of  boors  or  burghers  against  any 
commander  or  soklado,  by  whom  they  chanced  to  be  some- 
what closely  shorn.  So  that  an  experienced  cavaher, 
knowing  how  to  lay,  as  our  Scottish  phrase  runs,  '  the 
head  of  the  sow  to  the  tail  of  the  grice,'  might  get  out  of 
the  country  the  pay  whilk  he  could  not  obtain  from  the 
Emperor." 

"  With  a  full  hand,  sir,  doubtless,  and  with  interest," 
said  Lord  Menteith. 

"  Indubitably,  my  lord,"  answered  Dalgetty,  compos- 
edly ;  "  for  it  would  be  doubly  disgraceful  for  any  soldado 
of  rank  to  have  his  name  called  in  question  for  any  petty 
delinquency." 

"  And  pray,  sir,"  continued  Lord  Menteith,  "  what  made 
you  leave  so  gainful  a  service  ?  " 

"  Why,  truly,  sir,"  answered  the  soldier,  "  an  Irish  cav- 
alier, called  O'Quilligan,  being  major  of  our  regiment, 
and  I  having  had  words  with  him  the  night  before,  re- 
specting the  worth  and  precedence  of  our  several  nations, 
it  pleased  him  the  next  day  to  deliver  his  orders  to  me 
with  the  point  of  his  batoon  advanced  and  held  aloof, 
instead  of  declining  and  trailing  the  same,  as  is  the  fash- 
ion from  a  courteous  commanding  officer  towards  his 
equal  in  rank,  though,  it  may  be,  his  inferior  in  military 
grade.  Upon  this  quarrel,  sir,  we  fought  in  private  ren- 
contre ;  and  as,  in  the  perquisitions  which  followed,  it 
pleased  Walter  Butler,  our  oberst,  or  colonel,  to  give  the 
lighter  punishment  to  his  countryman,  and  the  heavier  to 
me,  whereupon,  ill  stomaching  such  partiality,  I  exchanged 
my  commission  for  one  under  the  Spaniard." 

"  I  hope  you  found  yourself  better  off  by  the  change  ?  " 
said  Lord  Menteith. 

"  In  good  sooth,"  answered  the  Ritt-master,  "  I  had  but 


A    LEGEND    OF    MOKTROSE.  255 

little  to  complain  of.  The  pay  was  somewhat  regular, 
being  furnished  by  the  rich  Flemings  and  Walloons  of 
the  Low  Country.  The  quarters  were  excellent ;  the 
good  wheaten  loaves  of  the  Flemings  were  better  than 
the  provant  rye-bread  of  the  Swede,  and  Rhenish  vnne 
was  more  plenty  with  us  than  ever  I  saw  the  black-beer 
of  Rostock  in  Gustavus's  camp.  Service  there  was  none, 
duty  there  was  little ;  and  that  little  we  might  do,  or 
leave  undone,  at  our  pleasure ;  an  excellent  retirement 
for  a  cavalier  somewhat  weary  of  field  and  leaguer,  who 
had  purchased  with  his  blood  as  much  honour  as  might 
serve  his  turn,  and  was  desirous  of  a  little  ease  and  good 
living." 

"  And  may  I  ask,"  said  Lord  Menteith,  "  why  you, 
Captain,  being,  as  I  suppose,  in  the  situation  you  describe, 
retired  from  the  Spanish  service  also  ?  " 

"  You  are  to  consider,  my  lord,  that  your  Spaniard," 
replied  Captain  Dalgetty,  "  is  a  person  altogether  unpar- 
alleled in  his  own  conceit,  wherethrough  he  maketh  not 
fit  account  of  such  foreign  cavaliers  of  valour  as  are 
pleased  to  take  service  with  him.  And  a  galling  thing 
it  is  to  every  honourable  soldado,  to  be  put  aside,  and 
postponed,  and  obliged  to  yield  preference  to  every 
puffing  signior,  who,  were  it  the  question  which  should 
first  mount  a  breach  at  push  of  pike,  might  be  apt  to 
yield  willing  place  to  a  Scottish  cavalier.  Moreover, 
sir,  I  was  pi'icked  in  conscience  respecting  a  matter  of 
religion." 

"  I  should  not  have  thought.  Captain  Dalgetty,"  said 
the  young  nobleman,  "  that  an  old  soldier,  who  had 
changed  service  so  often,  would  have  been  too  scrupulous 
on  that  head." 

"  No  more  I  am,  my  lord,"  said  the  Captain, "  since  I 


256  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  chaplain  of  the  regiment  to 
settle  those  matters  for  me,  and  every  other  bi'ave  cava- 
lier, inasmuch  as  he  does  nothing  else  that  I  know  of  for 
his  pay  and  allowances.  But  this  was  a  particular  case, 
my  lord,  a  casus  improvisus,  as  I  may  say,  in  whilk  I 
had  no  chaplain  of  my  own  persuasion  to  act  as  my 
adviser.  I  found,  in  short,  that  although  my  being  a 
Protestant  might  be  winked  at,  in  respect  that  I  was  a 
man  of  action,  and  had  more  experience  than  all  the 
Dons  in  our  tertia  put  together,  yet,  when  in  garrison, 
it  was  expected  I  should  go  to  mass  with  the  regiment. 
Now,  my  lord,  as  a  true  Scottish  man,  and  educated  at 
the  Mareschal  College  of  Aberdeen,  I  was  bound  to  up- 
hold the  mass  to  be  an  act  of  blinded  papistry  and  utter 
idolatry,  whilk  I  was  altogether  unwilling  to  homologate 
by  my  presence.  True  it  is,  that  I  consulted  on  the  point 
with  a  worthy  countryman  of  my  own,  one  Father  Fat- 
sides,  of  the  Scottish  Convent  in  Wurtzburg " 

"  And  I  hope,"  observed  Lord  Menteith,  "  you  obtained 
a  clear  opinion  from  this  same  ghostly  father  ?  " 

"  As  clear  as  it  could  be,"  replied  Captain  Dalgetty, 
"  considering  we  had  drunk  six  flasks  of  Rhenish,  and 
about  two  mutchkins  of  Kirschenwasser.  Father  Fat- 
sides  informed  me,  that,  as  nearly  as  he  could  judge,  for 
a  heretic  like  myself,  it  signified  not  much  whether  I 
went  to  mass  or  not,  seeing  my  eternal  pei'dition  was 
signed  and  sealed  at  any  rate,  in  respect  of  my  impeni- 
tent and  obdurate  perseverance  in  my  damnable  heresy. 
Being  discouraged  by  this  response,  I  apphed  to  a  Dutch 
pastor  of  the  reformed  church,  who  told  me,  he  thought 
I  might  lawfully  go  to  mass,  in  respect  that  the  prophet 
permitted  Naaman,  a  mighty  man  of  valour,  and  an  hon- 
ourable cavalier  of  Syria,  to  follow  his  master  into  the 


A    LEGEND    OF    MONTROSE.  257 

house  of  Rimmon,  a  false  god  or  idol,  to  whom  he  had 
vowed  service,  and  to  bow  down  when  the  king  was 
leaning  upon  his  hand.  But  neither  was  this  answer 
satisfactory  to  me,  both  because  there  was  an  unco  differ- 
ence between  an  anointed  King  of  Syria  and  our  Span- 
ish colonel,  whom  I  could  have  blown  away  like  the  peel- 
ing of  an  ingan,  and  chiefly  because  I  could  not  find  the 
thing  was  required  of  me  by  any  of  the  articles  of  war ; 
neither  was  I  proffered  any  consideration,  either  in  per 
quisite  or  pay,  for  the  wrong  I  might  thereby  do  to  my 
conscience." 

"  So  you  again  changed  your  service  ? "  said  Lord 
Menteith. 

"  In  troth  did  I,  my  lord ;  and  after  trying  for  a  short 
while  two  or  three  other  powers,  I  even  took  on  for  a  time 
with  their  High  Mightinesses  the  States  of  Holland." 

"And  how  did  their  service  jump  with  your  humour.'"' 
again  demanded  his  companion. 

"  Oh  !  my  lord,"  said  the  soldier,  in  a  sort  of  enthu- 
siasm, "  their  behaviour  on  pay-day  might  be  a  pattern 
to  all  Europe — no  borrowings,  no  lendings,  no  offsets,  no 
arrears — all  balanced  and  paid  like  a  banker's  book. 
The  quarters,  too,  are  excellent,  and  the  allowances  un- 
challengeable ;  but  then,  sir,  they  are  a  preceese,  scrupu- 
lous people,  and  will  allow  nothing  for  peccadilloes.  So 
that  if  a  boor  complains  of  a  broken  head,  or  a  beer- 
seller  of  a  broken  can,  or  a  daft  wench  does  but  squeak 
loud  enough  to  be  heard  above  her  breath,  a  soldier  of 
honour  shall  be  di'agged  not  before  his  own  court-martial, 
who  can  best  judge  of  and  punish  his  demerits,  but  before 
a  base  mechanical  burgomaster,  who  shall  menace  him 
with  the  rasp-house,  the  cord,  and  what  not,  as  if  he  were 
one   of  their  own   mean,  amphibious,  twenty-breeched 

VOL.  XI.  17 


258  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

boors.  So  not  being  able  to  dwell  longer  jimong  these 
ungrateful  plebeians,  who,  although  unable  to  defend 
themselves  by  their  proper  strength,  will,  nevertheless, 
allow  the  noble  foreign  cavalier  who  engages  with  them 
nothing  beyond  his  dry  wages,  which  no  honourable  spirit 
will  put  in  competition  with  a  liberal  license  and  honour- 
able countenance,  I  resolved  to  leave  the  service  of  the 
Mynheers.  And  hearing  at  this  time,  to  my  exceeding 
satisfaction,  that  there  is  something  to  be  doing  this  sum- 
mer in  my  way  in  this  my  dear  native  country,  I  am 
come  hither,  as  they  say,  like  a  beggar  to  a  bridal,  in 
order  to  give  my  loving  countrymen  the  advantage  of 
that  experience  which  I  have  acquired  in  foreign  parts. 
So  your  lordship  has  an  outline  of  my  brief  story,  ex- 
cepting my  deportment  in  those  passages  of  action  in  the 
field,  in  leaguers,  storms,  and  onslaughts,  whilk  would  be 
tedious  to  narrate,  and  might,  peradventure,  better  befit 
any  other  tongue  than  mine  own." 


^ 


